This Is The Day The Lord Hath Made
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. These words used to be one of my favorite things to remind my friends and relatives. It was my way of trying to put a positive spin on the many not so positive days that we all experience. It was an acknowledgment of God's gift to us---Life. The chance to praise God and the blessings we will receive in the day to come. So was the day that my daughter was born. It was a day like no other. It was a day when God answered a fervent prayer from two of his followers, Brenda and I. An answer that brought all the hope and joy that only a new life brings. This time it was in the form of a nine pound, nine ounce, red headed baby girl. A life that was to change our lives in so many precious ways. From the first moment I saw her when we layed her in the cradle I knew my heart no longer belonged to me. There formed a bond that instantly changed me and my response to life. She arrived in our lives, as she departed it, with a zest for life and all that it held for her. When other parents were talking about their children's afternoon naps we were being thankful for when she slept the whole night through. She began to walk at ten months of age and began her journey to distance herself from the security of her parents to the lure of the adventure of the unknown out there somewhere.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. The younger years of Danielle's life were filled with much to rejoice about. We bathed in the warmth of the promise of tomorrow. It truly was an exciting time for our family. The world and all it had to offer seemed to be coming our way. God truly was blessing us and we were rejoicing. God saw fit to provide good jobs, nice homes, and a gift thought to not be possible, a son (Joshua). Our family was now complete. We had the million dollar family and life was good.
Danielle and I during this time spent many Sunday afternoons going for a walk and playing the "I love you more than" game. This game, an ingenius idea of mine, was to try and outwit the other with something that was more spectacular than your worthy opponent could think of. You began each response with the phrase "I love you more than". . . . And then listed an item. The item needed to be grandiose because of course to the victor went a candy bar of your choice at Sheetz, an item far greater to a four year old than any golden cup received by any victor of some famous event. Danielle always won and I being the sport that I am purchased her the coveted prize, a Snickers Bar. I of course must confess an injustice that I have held in me for many years. This confession is quite simply that it was a fixed game. For there was no greater thing than the love that I felt for Danielle. So knowing this she was destined to lose but never did.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Danielle's early years were a time of learning the harsh realities of life and the wonder of a great God. Once when we had a small wading pool in our backyard a squirrel had gotten in it and drowned. Danielle was quite upset with this because she had a strong love for animals. To console her I explained to her that it was o.k. that we would bury him in the backyard and then tomorrow he would go up in heaven and play with all of his other squirrel friends. We discussed heaven and the wonderful time he would have there. The next day when I got home from work my mother-in-law said Danielle was acting strange all day. She would not leave the edge of the patio and would I talk to her. I proceeded to go to her and instantly saw the tears in her eyes. Tears that have always melted my heart. Within the sobbing she explained to me that I had promised the squirrel would float up to heaven. She had waited to watch this miraculous event the next day but she waited all day and it didn't occur, dooming the helpless squirrel to the cold tomb of the earth. We talked and discussed the fact that the squirrel turns into an invisible squirrel angel and that is why she couldn't see him go but I reassured her that it definitely did happen. With these words came the smile of acceptance and reassurance that all was well in the world for her. So, God, if you don't have squirrel angels in heaven playing with other squirrel angels, I am going to be in big trouble again. This will be one more thing to explain to her when I get to heaven. And you can be sure Danielle won't forget!
This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Boy did we need to be reminded of that during her teenage years. The same enthusiasm she brought to walking, talking and playing during her preteen years, she brought to her teen years in the form of arguing, stomping and that favorite of mine slamming doors. But she also brought us much joy and enthusiasm for contemporary things. She gave us a renewed understanding of music and popular views and ideas. I was the dad who could talk about Smashed Pumpkins and know that was not the result of a roving band of tricksters on Halloween night but a contemporary music group that had the sound that was "where it's at". It kept us young.
She was a great teacher during this time. She taught a teacher about the lesson of not judging people by the way they look but on the inner beauty they possessed. This inner beauty that alluded me but was so obvious to her. This lesson, she often reminded me, I already should know since it was the one I taught to her. Now who would have known! A teenager learning something from their old man and admitting it. The point of the lesson was not one I wanted to be reminded of when she was speaking of someone who seemed obvious to me to be one that is going to cause some emotional harm to her. But a point hardly argumentable.
Another lesson she reminded me was her loyalty to friends. She was not always patient with her friends and roommates but she was fiercely loyal. She would protect her friends with the tenacity of a mother lion protecting her cubs. I hope she learned this lesson from observing Brenda and I's friendships. They have and are very important to us. They have enriched our family's life as Danielle's friends have enriched hers. I was not always sure of the choices for her friends but I have learned to appreciate the beauty that she saw in all of them. I humbly thank all those people who took time to know her as a person and cared for her as a friend. To those who did not get to know her for one reason or the other I would have to say you missed an opportunity to be touched by someone that you will be hard pressed to find in another person.
Danielle had a love of life, friends, and animals. She often loved the unlovable pet. Point in fact a scrawny, blind, contemptuous dog that was the bane of our existance for a number of years. This dog's name was Brandy and she loved him dearly. My heart often swelled with pride when I saw how compassionate she was for something that seemed so unworthy of any love. Now for the dog himself I can not be so kind. For once again the beauty that my daughter saw I could not.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in it. What can I say about Danielle's young adulthood. It was the best of times and the worst of times. It was a time of responsibility and of finding one's place in life. She got a job and moved into an apartment. The apartment she decided should be decorated in retro furniture. Any one who knows me knows this was music to my ears. It was the lure of the challenge to furnish the apartment with authentic fifties-sixties items. We attended many auctions and yard sales in pursuit of the perfect retro item. It was fun. The time we spent doing this was then and even more so now is very precious to me. I will always cherish that time we had together.
During this time, Danielle became an assertive young woman with a tenacious spirit. Knowing her as a child this was no surprise but it was a stength of character that I definitely admired. She would set her mind to something and then go for it.
Young adulthood was a time to look into the eyes of my baby girl and see a woman. A Woman that held the promises of tomorrow: marriage, children, the nurturing of Brenda and I when we are old. Danielle became a strength for me. A strength I found in the holding of my hand or a gentle hug and kiss. When my father died she was a great comfort to me and my protector. The circle of life seemed to have made its turn and I now was having serious conversations with this child who seemed to rapidly become my equal. A dear friend of mine once told me that when her children were young it seemed to them that she didn't have any wisdom to share with them but when they got older she miraculously gained intelligence and they began asking her opinion and using it in their life decisions. I felt Danielle was beginning to do the same with me and I loved it. She still didn't always completely accept my advice but it was great to know that it was part of her decision making process.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Danielle loved life in all stages of it. She was hungry for new experiences and often pursued them. Once when she and her friends were sitting around they discussed New York City and the fact of wanting to go there. Danielle decided along with her group to just get in the car and go there. They arrived there in the early hours of the day and just drove around. God, I wish I could be this spontaneous but I guess with age comes too much knowledge. Knowledge brings fear of "what ifs" which keeps us bound to our safe rudimentary lives. We had a rule about these excursions. Tell me about them when you get back. And she did with the sparkle in her eyes of the excitement of the adventure. I was vicariously transported there and felt young again.
This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. These words seem very hollow on a day like today. For what is there to rejoice? A major part of our soul has been ripped from our bodies to never be replaced again. But yet there is reason to rejoice because my daughter has enriched our lives and many of those that she had contact with. She made us better prople and will continue to influence our thinking and actions for many years to come. We should rejoice because she was a Christian and has now shed her earthly body and has taken on her heavenly body and is, I'm sure, having a great time shaking things up in heaven. God in his infinite wisdom gave her to us for only twenty-three years. I will never understand why she could not be with us longer. Maybe God was getting bored with the usual mundane heaven and needed someone to help him make some changes in heaven. Danielle would certainly be able to do that. Retro in heaven? Why not?
With this experience comes new wisdom. Wisdom that I humbly share with you to encourage some changes in your lives as well as mine. It is wisdom born in suffering but nonetheless important. I have learned to cherish every moment with my family and friends and to assume no tomorrows. Wisdome in the accepting of the differences in our children and being proud of who they are, not what we want them to be. Thank God for the blessings he gives us and the wisdom to do his will. Danielle, I love you and always have. In the darkness of the early morning I cry out to have one more chance to hold you and to hear your voice. I know it will not happen but I also know someday we will be together again and it will truly be a great day! Praise the Lord for this will be the day that He hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it.
Love forever, Mom, Dad, and Joshua
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. These words used to be one of my favorite things to remind my friends and relatives. It was my way of trying to put a positive spin on the many not so positive days that we all experience. It was an acknowledgment of God's gift to us---Life. The chance to praise God and the blessings we will receive in the day to come. So was the day that my daughter was born. It was a day like no other. It was a day when God answered a fervent prayer from two of his followers, Brenda and I. An answer that brought all the hope and joy that only a new life brings. This time it was in the form of a nine pound, nine ounce, red headed baby girl. A life that was to change our lives in so many precious ways. From the first moment I saw her when we layed her in the cradle I knew my heart no longer belonged to me. There formed a bond that instantly changed me and my response to life. She arrived in our lives, as she departed it, with a zest for life and all that it held for her. When other parents were talking about their children's afternoon naps we were being thankful for when she slept the whole night through. She began to walk at ten months of age and began her journey to distance herself from the security of her parents to the lure of the adventure of the unknown out there somewhere.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. The younger years of Danielle's life were filled with much to rejoice about. We bathed in the warmth of the promise of tomorrow. It truly was an exciting time for our family. The world and all it had to offer seemed to be coming our way. God truly was blessing us and we were rejoicing. God saw fit to provide good jobs, nice homes, and a gift thought to not be possible, a son (Joshua). Our family was now complete. We had the million dollar family and life was good.
Danielle and I during this time spent many Sunday afternoons going for a walk and playing the "I love you more than" game. This game, an ingenius idea of mine, was to try and outwit the other with something that was more spectacular than your worthy opponent could think of. You began each response with the phrase "I love you more than". . . . And then listed an item. The item needed to be grandiose because of course to the victor went a candy bar of your choice at Sheetz, an item far greater to a four year old than any golden cup received by any victor of some famous event. Danielle always won and I being the sport that I am purchased her the coveted prize, a Snickers Bar. I of course must confess an injustice that I have held in me for many years. This confession is quite simply that it was a fixed game. For there was no greater thing than the love that I felt for Danielle. So knowing this she was destined to lose but never did.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Danielle's early years were a time of learning the harsh realities of life and the wonder of a great God. Once when we had a small wading pool in our backyard a squirrel had gotten in it and drowned. Danielle was quite upset with this because she had a strong love for animals. To console her I explained to her that it was o.k. that we would bury him in the backyard and then tomorrow he would go up in heaven and play with all of his other squirrel friends. We discussed heaven and the wonderful time he would have there. The next day when I got home from work my mother-in-law said Danielle was acting strange all day. She would not leave the edge of the patio and would I talk to her. I proceeded to go to her and instantly saw the tears in her eyes. Tears that have always melted my heart. Within the sobbing she explained to me that I had promised the squirrel would float up to heaven. She had waited to watch this miraculous event the next day but she waited all day and it didn't occur, dooming the helpless squirrel to the cold tomb of the earth. We talked and discussed the fact that the squirrel turns into an invisible squirrel angel and that is why she couldn't see him go but I reassured her that it definitely did happen. With these words came the smile of acceptance and reassurance that all was well in the world for her. So, God, if you don't have squirrel angels in heaven playing with other squirrel angels, I am going to be in big trouble again. This will be one more thing to explain to her when I get to heaven. And you can be sure Danielle won't forget!
This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Boy did we need to be reminded of that during her teenage years. The same enthusiasm she brought to walking, talking and playing during her preteen years, she brought to her teen years in the form of arguing, stomping and that favorite of mine slamming doors. But she also brought us much joy and enthusiasm for contemporary things. She gave us a renewed understanding of music and popular views and ideas. I was the dad who could talk about Smashed Pumpkins and know that was not the result of a roving band of tricksters on Halloween night but a contemporary music group that had the sound that was "where it's at". It kept us young.
She was a great teacher during this time. She taught a teacher about the lesson of not judging people by the way they look but on the inner beauty they possessed. This inner beauty that alluded me but was so obvious to her. This lesson, she often reminded me, I already should know since it was the one I taught to her. Now who would have known! A teenager learning something from their old man and admitting it. The point of the lesson was not one I wanted to be reminded of when she was speaking of someone who seemed obvious to me to be one that is going to cause some emotional harm to her. But a point hardly argumentable.
Another lesson she reminded me was her loyalty to friends. She was not always patient with her friends and roommates but she was fiercely loyal. She would protect her friends with the tenacity of a mother lion protecting her cubs. I hope she learned this lesson from observing Brenda and I's friendships. They have and are very important to us. They have enriched our family's life as Danielle's friends have enriched hers. I was not always sure of the choices for her friends but I have learned to appreciate the beauty that she saw in all of them. I humbly thank all those people who took time to know her as a person and cared for her as a friend. To those who did not get to know her for one reason or the other I would have to say you missed an opportunity to be touched by someone that you will be hard pressed to find in another person.
Danielle had a love of life, friends, and animals. She often loved the unlovable pet. Point in fact a scrawny, blind, contemptuous dog that was the bane of our existance for a number of years. This dog's name was Brandy and she loved him dearly. My heart often swelled with pride when I saw how compassionate she was for something that seemed so unworthy of any love. Now for the dog himself I can not be so kind. For once again the beauty that my daughter saw I could not.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in it. What can I say about Danielle's young adulthood. It was the best of times and the worst of times. It was a time of responsibility and of finding one's place in life. She got a job and moved into an apartment. The apartment she decided should be decorated in retro furniture. Any one who knows me knows this was music to my ears. It was the lure of the challenge to furnish the apartment with authentic fifties-sixties items. We attended many auctions and yard sales in pursuit of the perfect retro item. It was fun. The time we spent doing this was then and even more so now is very precious to me. I will always cherish that time we had together.
During this time, Danielle became an assertive young woman with a tenacious spirit. Knowing her as a child this was no surprise but it was a stength of character that I definitely admired. She would set her mind to something and then go for it.
Young adulthood was a time to look into the eyes of my baby girl and see a woman. A Woman that held the promises of tomorrow: marriage, children, the nurturing of Brenda and I when we are old. Danielle became a strength for me. A strength I found in the holding of my hand or a gentle hug and kiss. When my father died she was a great comfort to me and my protector. The circle of life seemed to have made its turn and I now was having serious conversations with this child who seemed to rapidly become my equal. A dear friend of mine once told me that when her children were young it seemed to them that she didn't have any wisdom to share with them but when they got older she miraculously gained intelligence and they began asking her opinion and using it in their life decisions. I felt Danielle was beginning to do the same with me and I loved it. She still didn't always completely accept my advice but it was great to know that it was part of her decision making process.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Danielle loved life in all stages of it. She was hungry for new experiences and often pursued them. Once when she and her friends were sitting around they discussed New York City and the fact of wanting to go there. Danielle decided along with her group to just get in the car and go there. They arrived there in the early hours of the day and just drove around. God, I wish I could be this spontaneous but I guess with age comes too much knowledge. Knowledge brings fear of "what ifs" which keeps us bound to our safe rudimentary lives. We had a rule about these excursions. Tell me about them when you get back. And she did with the sparkle in her eyes of the excitement of the adventure. I was vicariously transported there and felt young again.
This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. These words seem very hollow on a day like today. For what is there to rejoice? A major part of our soul has been ripped from our bodies to never be replaced again. But yet there is reason to rejoice because my daughter has enriched our lives and many of those that she had contact with. She made us better prople and will continue to influence our thinking and actions for many years to come. We should rejoice because she was a Christian and has now shed her earthly body and has taken on her heavenly body and is, I'm sure, having a great time shaking things up in heaven. God in his infinite wisdom gave her to us for only twenty-three years. I will never understand why she could not be with us longer. Maybe God was getting bored with the usual mundane heaven and needed someone to help him make some changes in heaven. Danielle would certainly be able to do that. Retro in heaven? Why not?
With this experience comes new wisdom. Wisdom that I humbly share with you to encourage some changes in your lives as well as mine. It is wisdom born in suffering but nonetheless important. I have learned to cherish every moment with my family and friends and to assume no tomorrows. Wisdome in the accepting of the differences in our children and being proud of who they are, not what we want them to be. Thank God for the blessings he gives us and the wisdom to do his will. Danielle, I love you and always have. In the darkness of the early morning I cry out to have one more chance to hold you and to hear your voice. I know it will not happen but I also know someday we will be together again and it will truly be a great day! Praise the Lord for this will be the day that He hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it.
Love forever, Mom, Dad, and Joshua
This Is The Day The Lord Hath Made
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. These words used to be one of my favorite things to remind my friends and relatives. It was my way of trying to put a positive spin on the many not so positive days that we all experience. It was an acknowledgment of God's gift to us---Life. The chance to praise God and the blessings we will receive in the day to come. So was the day that my daughter was born. It was a day like no other. It was a day when God answered a fervent prayer from two of his followers, Brenda and I. An answer that brought all the hope and joy that only a new life brings. This time it was in the form of a nine pound, nine ounce, red headed baby girl. A life that was to change our lives in so many precious ways. From the first moment I saw her when we layed her in the cradle I knew my heart no longer belonged to me. There formed a bond that instantly changed me and my response to life. She arrived in our lives, as she departed it, with a zest for life and all that it held for her. When other parents were talking about their children's afternoon naps we were being thankful for when she slept the whole night through. She began to walk at ten months of age and began her journey to distance herself from the security of her parents to the lure of the adventure of the unknown out there somewhere.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. The younger years of Danielle's life were filled with much to rejoice about. We bathed in the warmth of the promise of tomorrow. It truly was an exciting time for our family. The world and all it had to offer seemed to be coming our way. God truly was blessing us and we were rejoicing. God saw fit to provide good jobs, nice homes, and a gift thought to not be possible, a son (Joshua). Our family was now complete. We had the million dollar family and life was good.
Danielle and I during this time spent many Sunday afternoons going for a walk and playing the "I love you more than" game. This game, an ingenius idea of mine, was to try and outwit the other with something that was more spectacular than your worthy opponent could think of. You began each response with the phrase "I love you more than". . . . And then listed an item. The item needed to be grandiose because of course to the victor went a candy bar of your choice at Sheetz, an item far greater to a four year old than any golden cup received by any victor of some famous event. Danielle always won and I being the sport that I am purchased her the coveted prize, a Snickers Bar. I of course must confess an injustice that I have held in me for many years. This confession is quite simply that it was a fixed game. For there was no greater thing than the love that I felt for Danielle. So knowing this she was destined to lose but never did.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Danielle's early years were a time of learning the harsh realities of life and the wonder of a great God. Once when we had a small wading pool in our backyard a squirrel had gotten in it and drowned. Danielle was quite upset with this because she had a strong love for animals. To console her I explained to her that it was o.k. that we would bury him in the backyard and then tomorrow he would go up in heaven and play with all of his other squirrel friends. We discussed heaven and the wonderful time he would have there. The next day when I got home from work my mother-in-law said Danielle was acting strange all day. She would not leave the edge of the patio and would I talk to her. I proceeded to go to her and instantly saw the tears in her eyes. Tears that have always melted my heart. Within the sobbing she explained to me that I had promised the squirrel would float up to heaven. She had waited to watch this miraculous event the next day but she waited all day and it didn't occur, dooming the helpless squirrel to the cold tomb of the earth. We talked and discussed the fact that the squirrel turns into an invisible squirrel angel and that is why she couldn't see him go but I reassured her that it definitely did happen. With these words came the smile of acceptance and reassurance that all was well in the world for her. So, God, if you don't have squirrel angels in heaven playing with other squirrel angels, I am going to be in big trouble again. This will be one more thing to explain to her when I get to heaven. And you can be sure Danielle won't forget!
This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Boy did we need to be reminded of that during her teenage years. The same enthusiasm she brought to walking, talking and playing during her preteen years, she brought to her teen years in the form of arguing, stomping and that favorite of mine slamming doors. But she also brought us much joy and enthusiasm for contemporary things. She gave us a renewed understanding of music and popular views and ideas. I was the dad who could talk about Smashed Pumpkins and know that was not the result of a roving band of tricksters on Halloween night but a contemporary music group that had the sound that was "where it's at". It kept us young.
She was a great teacher during this time. She taught a teacher about the lesson of not judging people by the way they look but on the inner beauty they possessed. This inner beauty that alluded me but was so obvious to her. This lesson, she often reminded me, I already should know since it was the one I taught to her. Now who would have known! A teenager learning something from their old man and admitting it. The point of the lesson was not one I wanted to be reminded of when she was speaking of someone who seemed obvious to me to be one that is going to cause some emotional harm to her. But a point hardly argumentable.
Another lesson she reminded me was her loyalty to friends. She was not always patient with her friends and roommates but she was fiercely loyal. She would protect her friends with the tenacity of a mother lion protecting her cubs. I hope she learned this lesson from observing Brenda and I's friendships. They have and are very important to us. They have enriched our family's life as Danielle's friends have enriched hers. I was not always sure of the choices for her friends but I have learned to appreciate the beauty that she saw in all of them. I humbly thank all those people who took time to know her as a person and cared for her as a friend. To those who did not get to know her for one reason or the other I would have to say you missed an opportunity to be touched by someone that you will be hard pressed to find in another person.
Danielle had a love of life, friends, and animals. She often loved the unlovable pet. Point in fact a scrawny, blind, contemptuous dog that was the bane of our existance for a number of years. This dog's name was Brandy and she loved him dearly. My heart often swelled with pride when I saw how compassionate she was for something that seemed so unworthy of any love. Now for the dog himself I can not be so kind. For once again the beauty that my daughter saw I could not.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in it. What can I say about Danielle's young adulthood. It was the best of times and the worst of times. It was a time of responsibility and of finding one's place in life. She got a job and moved into an apartment. The apartment she decided should be decorated in retro furniture. Any one who knows me knows this was music to my ears. It was the lure of the challenge to furnish the apartment with authentic fifties-sixties items. We attended many auctions and yard sales in pursuit of the perfect retro item. It was fun. The time we spent doing this was then and even more so now is very precious to me. I will always cherish that time we had together.
During this time, Danielle became an assertive young woman with a tenacious spirit. Knowing her as a child this was no surprise but it was a stength of character that I definitely admired. She would set her mind to something and then go for it.
Young adulthood was a time to look into the eyes of my baby girl and see a woman. A Woman that held the promises of tomorrow: marriage, children, the nurturing of Brenda and I when we are old. Danielle became a strength for me. A strength I found in the holding of my hand or a gentle hug and kiss. When my father died she was a great comfort to me and my protector. The circle of life seemed to have made its turn and I now was having serious conversations with this child who seemed to rapidly become my equal. A dear friend of mine once told me that when her children were young it seemed to them that she didn't have any wisdom to share with them but when they got older she miraculously gained intelligence and they began asking her opinion and using it in their life decisions. I felt Danielle was beginning to do the same with me and I loved it. She still didn't always completely accept my advice but it was great to know that it was part of her decision making process.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Danielle loved life in all stages of it. She was hungry for new experiences and often pursued them. Once when she and her friends were sitting around they discussed New York City and the fact of wanting to go there. Danielle decided along with her group to just get in the car and go there. They arrived there in the early hours of the day and just drove around. God, I wish I could be this spontaneous but I guess with age comes too much knowledge. Knowledge brings fear of "what ifs" which keeps us bound to our safe rudimentary lives. We had a rule about these excursions. Tell me about them when you get back. And she did with the sparkle in her eyes of the excitement of the adventure. I was vicariously transported there and felt young again.
This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. These words seem very hollow on a day like today. For what is there to rejoice? A major part of our soul has been ripped from our bodies to never be replaced again. But yet there is reason to rejoice because my daughter has enriched our lives and many of those that she had contact with. She made us better prople and will continue to influence our thinking and actions for many years to come. We should rejoice because she was a Christian and has now shed her earthly body and has taken on her heavenly body and is, I'm sure, having a great time shaking things up in heaven. God in his infinite wisdom gave her to us for only twenty-three years. I will never understand why she could not be with us longer. Maybe God was getting bored with the usual mundane heaven and needed someone to help him make some changes in heaven. Danielle would certainly be able to do that. Retro in heaven? Why not?
With this experience comes new wisdom. Wisdom that I humbly share with you to encourage some changes in your lives as well as mine. It is wisdom born in suffering but nonetheless important. I have learned to cherish every moment with my family and friends and to assume no tomorrows. Wisdome in the accepting of the differences in our children and being proud of who they are, not what we want them to be. Thank God for the blessings he gives us and the wisdom to do his will. Danielle, I love you and always have. In the darkness of the early morning I cry out to have one more chance to hold you and to hear your voice. I know it will not happen but I also know someday we will be together again and it will truly be a great day! Praise the Lord for this will be the day that He hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it.
Love forever, Mom, Dad, and Joshua
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. These words used to be one of my favorite things to remind my friends and relatives. It was my way of trying to put a positive spin on the many not so positive days that we all experience. It was an acknowledgment of God's gift to us---Life. The chance to praise God and the blessings we will receive in the day to come. So was the day that my daughter was born. It was a day like no other. It was a day when God answered a fervent prayer from two of his followers, Brenda and I. An answer that brought all the hope and joy that only a new life brings. This time it was in the form of a nine pound, nine ounce, red headed baby girl. A life that was to change our lives in so many precious ways. From the first moment I saw her when we layed her in the cradle I knew my heart no longer belonged to me. There formed a bond that instantly changed me and my response to life. She arrived in our lives, as she departed it, with a zest for life and all that it held for her. When other parents were talking about their children's afternoon naps we were being thankful for when she slept the whole night through. She began to walk at ten months of age and began her journey to distance herself from the security of her parents to the lure of the adventure of the unknown out there somewhere.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. The younger years of Danielle's life were filled with much to rejoice about. We bathed in the warmth of the promise of tomorrow. It truly was an exciting time for our family. The world and all it had to offer seemed to be coming our way. God truly was blessing us and we were rejoicing. God saw fit to provide good jobs, nice homes, and a gift thought to not be possible, a son (Joshua). Our family was now complete. We had the million dollar family and life was good.
Danielle and I during this time spent many Sunday afternoons going for a walk and playing the "I love you more than" game. This game, an ingenius idea of mine, was to try and outwit the other with something that was more spectacular than your worthy opponent could think of. You began each response with the phrase "I love you more than". . . . And then listed an item. The item needed to be grandiose because of course to the victor went a candy bar of your choice at Sheetz, an item far greater to a four year old than any golden cup received by any victor of some famous event. Danielle always won and I being the sport that I am purchased her the coveted prize, a Snickers Bar. I of course must confess an injustice that I have held in me for many years. This confession is quite simply that it was a fixed game. For there was no greater thing than the love that I felt for Danielle. So knowing this she was destined to lose but never did.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Danielle's early years were a time of learning the harsh realities of life and the wonder of a great God. Once when we had a small wading pool in our backyard a squirrel had gotten in it and drowned. Danielle was quite upset with this because she had a strong love for animals. To console her I explained to her that it was o.k. that we would bury him in the backyard and then tomorrow he would go up in heaven and play with all of his other squirrel friends. We discussed heaven and the wonderful time he would have there. The next day when I got home from work my mother-in-law said Danielle was acting strange all day. She would not leave the edge of the patio and would I talk to her. I proceeded to go to her and instantly saw the tears in her eyes. Tears that have always melted my heart. Within the sobbing she explained to me that I had promised the squirrel would float up to heaven. She had waited to watch this miraculous event the next day but she waited all day and it didn't occur, dooming the helpless squirrel to the cold tomb of the earth. We talked and discussed the fact that the squirrel turns into an invisible squirrel angel and that is why she couldn't see him go but I reassured her that it definitely did happen. With these words came the smile of acceptance and reassurance that all was well in the world for her. So, God, if you don't have squirrel angels in heaven playing with other squirrel angels, I am going to be in big trouble again. This will be one more thing to explain to her when I get to heaven. And you can be sure Danielle won't forget!
This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Boy did we need to be reminded of that during her teenage years. The same enthusiasm she brought to walking, talking and playing during her preteen years, she brought to her teen years in the form of arguing, stomping and that favorite of mine slamming doors. But she also brought us much joy and enthusiasm for contemporary things. She gave us a renewed understanding of music and popular views and ideas. I was the dad who could talk about Smashed Pumpkins and know that was not the result of a roving band of tricksters on Halloween night but a contemporary music group that had the sound that was "where it's at". It kept us young.
She was a great teacher during this time. She taught a teacher about the lesson of not judging people by the way they look but on the inner beauty they possessed. This inner beauty that alluded me but was so obvious to her. This lesson, she often reminded me, I already should know since it was the one I taught to her. Now who would have known! A teenager learning something from their old man and admitting it. The point of the lesson was not one I wanted to be reminded of when she was speaking of someone who seemed obvious to me to be one that is going to cause some emotional harm to her. But a point hardly argumentable.
Another lesson she reminded me was her loyalty to friends. She was not always patient with her friends and roommates but she was fiercely loyal. She would protect her friends with the tenacity of a mother lion protecting her cubs. I hope she learned this lesson from observing Brenda and I's friendships. They have and are very important to us. They have enriched our family's life as Danielle's friends have enriched hers. I was not always sure of the choices for her friends but I have learned to appreciate the beauty that she saw in all of them. I humbly thank all those people who took time to know her as a person and cared for her as a friend. To those who did not get to know her for one reason or the other I would have to say you missed an opportunity to be touched by someone that you will be hard pressed to find in another person.
Danielle had a love of life, friends, and animals. She often loved the unlovable pet. Point in fact a scrawny, blind, contemptuous dog that was the bane of our existance for a number of years. This dog's name was Brandy and she loved him dearly. My heart often swelled with pride when I saw how compassionate she was for something that seemed so unworthy of any love. Now for the dog himself I can not be so kind. For once again the beauty that my daughter saw I could not.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in it. What can I say about Danielle's young adulthood. It was the best of times and the worst of times. It was a time of responsibility and of finding one's place in life. She got a job and moved into an apartment. The apartment she decided should be decorated in retro furniture. Any one who knows me knows this was music to my ears. It was the lure of the challenge to furnish the apartment with authentic fifties-sixties items. We attended many auctions and yard sales in pursuit of the perfect retro item. It was fun. The time we spent doing this was then and even more so now is very precious to me. I will always cherish that time we had together.
During this time, Danielle became an assertive young woman with a tenacious spirit. Knowing her as a child this was no surprise but it was a stength of character that I definitely admired. She would set her mind to something and then go for it.
Young adulthood was a time to look into the eyes of my baby girl and see a woman. A Woman that held the promises of tomorrow: marriage, children, the nurturing of Brenda and I when we are old. Danielle became a strength for me. A strength I found in the holding of my hand or a gentle hug and kiss. When my father died she was a great comfort to me and my protector. The circle of life seemed to have made its turn and I now was having serious conversations with this child who seemed to rapidly become my equal. A dear friend of mine once told me that when her children were young it seemed to them that she didn't have any wisdom to share with them but when they got older she miraculously gained intelligence and they began asking her opinion and using it in their life decisions. I felt Danielle was beginning to do the same with me and I loved it. She still didn't always completely accept my advice but it was great to know that it was part of her decision making process.
This is the day the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. Danielle loved life in all stages of it. She was hungry for new experiences and often pursued them. Once when she and her friends were sitting around they discussed New York City and the fact of wanting to go there. Danielle decided along with her group to just get in the car and go there. They arrived there in the early hours of the day and just drove around. God, I wish I could be this spontaneous but I guess with age comes too much knowledge. Knowledge brings fear of "what ifs" which keeps us bound to our safe rudimentary lives. We had a rule about these excursions. Tell me about them when you get back. And she did with the sparkle in her eyes of the excitement of the adventure. I was vicariously transported there and felt young again.
This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it. These words seem very hollow on a day like today. For what is there to rejoice? A major part of our soul has been ripped from our bodies to never be replaced again. But yet there is reason to rejoice because my daughter has enriched our lives and many of those that she had contact with. She made us better prople and will continue to influence our thinking and actions for many years to come. We should rejoice because she was a Christian and has now shed her earthly body and has taken on her heavenly body and is, I'm sure, having a great time shaking things up in heaven. God in his infinite wisdom gave her to us for only twenty-three years. I will never understand why she could not be with us longer. Maybe God was getting bored with the usual mundane heaven and needed someone to help him make some changes in heaven. Danielle would certainly be able to do that. Retro in heaven? Why not?
With this experience comes new wisdom. Wisdom that I humbly share with you to encourage some changes in your lives as well as mine. It is wisdom born in suffering but nonetheless important. I have learned to cherish every moment with my family and friends and to assume no tomorrows. Wisdome in the accepting of the differences in our children and being proud of who they are, not what we want them to be. Thank God for the blessings he gives us and the wisdom to do his will. Danielle, I love you and always have. In the darkness of the early morning I cry out to have one more chance to hold you and to hear your voice. I know it will not happen but I also know someday we will be together again and it will truly be a great day! Praise the Lord for this will be the day that He hath made. We shall be glad and rejoice in it.
Love forever, Mom, Dad, and Joshua
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