Saying Goodbye

I cannot give enough thanks to all those who've been faithfully praying for my father, and for his overall health and for his eternal salvation...

He's a strong-willed man. My Dad is a survivor, too. And he's also ninety-nine years old. However, during our phone conversation earlier this afternoon, my Dad told me that he's now feeling weaker, physically. He doesn't believe he'll live to see one hundred.

I love my father very much, and having to hear these words from his mouth are now weighing heavy on my heart. So I wrote him the following in a letter which will go out with tomorrow's mail:


Dearest Dad . . . I'm glad you said what you did
because it's always better to unburden your heart
and not keep things inside. We men often have great
difficulty expressing our emotions and sharing our
feelings...

I cannot begin to express how I wish things were
different for us. I wish I could start my life over
again this time older and wiser, and much more appre-
ciative of all the love and care you and Mommy gave
to me. I miss you, and I miss Mom. I remember the
good times we had together, and I will never forget
them. You and Mommy treated me so special and I was
a very blessed young boy. In spite of all my be-
havioral problems and difficulties, my life was much
better with you and Mom as my parents than had I grown
up in Brooklyn with my birth mother, even though she
was a nice and kindhearted woman. Dad, she would not
have been able to provide for me. Plus her boyfriend,
the man who was my birth father, would not have wanted
me. So I would have been lonely and miserable if I had
to grow up in that household.

Having you and Mommy as my parents was the best
thing that could've happened to me. Thank you, Dad,
for being such a wonderful father. I know that, if 
I didn't have the problems I did, and if I didn't
take the wrong turns that I did during a very troubled
and vulnerable time in my life right after I got out
of the Army and tried to reconnect with old friends
and find new ones, etc., I would not be here today.
I'd probably have long since gotten married and had
kids. And you'd be a grandfather, too. I'm sorry,
Dad.

Dad, there are many days when I cry too. You're
not the only one. We both hurt a lot on the inside.
The inner pain we both have is very intense. I don't
think it will ever go away in our lifetime, either.
However I do know that one day I will be leaving this
earth. And I am going to heaven because I believe in
Jesus, that He is the promised Messiah of the Jews.
Jesus (Yeshua) died for my sins, and I believe He
arose from the grave. I am fully confident in this
and I have no doubts.

So when it is time for me to leave this world,
I know without a doubt that I am going to a better
place. I wish you could join me...Dad, you can
come with me to heaven if you simply receive Jesus
as your Messiah, if you ask Him even right at this
moment to forgive you of all your sins, and to help
you. God loves you, Dad. He has blessed you with
good genes to live a long life. But eternally is far
more important than even this life. Nothing can be 
compared to it. And nothing can be compared to 
living in heaven together with a loving Messiah
as our King. I love you always.

Your son, David

D.B.