It is amazing how I learn more, how I take it all in
How I think I am just learning little random pieces of information
And that is when I find out that all of the pieces relate
That there is meaning to almost anything I see or do
I remember so much about you, and I know there is
So much you have taught me
How to understand the word of my elders
Mom has taught me to take it all in stride
She has taught me how to manage it all and how to do that
With grace
I know that you were the foundation to everything she maintained
You were stern for a reason, and this was how
You kept everything in line without having to raise your voice to me
Because I just knew
You were making all the details possible by working so hard
Mom knew this, and gave you your space for it, and all the children
Thank you, and I thank you, because mom and you are what made us
us
Life would never be the same without your influense
Without you making it all possible
My brother told me we were all creative in this family
I did not see how, not for all of us, I did not fit the pieces together
And he laid out the details this way for me
Mom painted, Ed was an architect, Bob used construction to build from scratch,
Lorelei was an art tacher, Sandy got her art out through crafts,
And I was a graphic artist and a photographer and a writer
Before he told me that you took my grandfather's business
Kept it alive, kept it thriving, I then remembered one more thing
Once I was looking in the little kitchen and found a box
Of old black and white photographs, and I didn't know where they came from
I asked you, you used to be a photographer, that you
Developed these pictures, that you took pictures
When you were in high school,
this was the way you could be creative
It gave me my own snapshot of you, it helped me realize
These are the things we do to keep ourselves alive
and It gave me one memory of you
this was something I learned about you through chance, first hand
This was how I learned more about you, and me
And I thank you for that
There have been so many changes that I have gone through in my life
So many things I could not explain
Learning about you, getting these tiny glimpses
It is as if I have taken these snapshots of your life
Now I can slowly piece this all together to make the picture complete
I know that life is not easy and that it all takes work
Your life has been difficult at times, your life has been rich as well
Your life has also made me rich, rich from you, from being a part of your life
When people compliment me, tell me that I am smart or talented
I know where the pieces came from that have made me whole
That have given this to me
And I thank you for that
