Riverside Drive

Riverside Drive
(Written and read by Andrea in May 2008 as a tribute to her dad, before he passed away in July 2008)

Such a patient man:
Spending so much time with me as an infant,
Relieving my mother in the evenings when you would come home from a long day at work.
“Does the baby want some cool water?” You would ask.
“Cool water, nice cool water.” I would answer.

Such an intelligent man:
Your avid reading and reciting poetry,
created an environment for my craving of books at a very young age.
And so you read to me.
“Read book, read book.” I would say.
You’d smile, tuck me in my bed and read to me,
your velvety voice lulling me to sleep.

Ahhh, the many memories that were made on Riverside Drive are countless.
But I can reach out and touch many of them,
because they are so vivid and real to me, even now.

The running, the bike riding, the swings, the sandbox, the roller skates, the scrapes,
the car washing, and then,
just the simple walk.
The slow, simple, meaningful walk down Riverside Drive with you,
as you near three-quarters of a century old,
was priceless.

As we took that walk on that beautiful spring day,
you started to reminisce about the fun times that you had as a youth on Riverside Drive.
Your descriptions were so incisive, I felt like I was right there with you, during that time.

But, time has caught up with you and you have not had an easy road to walk.
Your resilience amazes everyone.
You still paint, you still read and recite poetry.
You still laugh, you still smile, you still encourage and admonish,
and you,
still walk down Riverside Drive.

I never could have known,
the significance, that one, simple walk,
on a street, where I have probably walked in my same footsteps,
more than a million times, would have on me.

Thank you dad, for that slow, simple walk down Riverside Drive.