I Was There

July fourth, two thousand four - sometime after eleven o'clock; way past my bedtime but mommy had two words to tell me before I could sleep. "Daddy's dead," she said. She was crying before the words left her lips. Heavy words, weighing down the tongue; choking up the throat. I knew exactly what happened, maybe more than anyone. You see,you're memory is second-hand, but mine is through my own eyes. 'Cause you see, I was there. A nine-year-old daugter watching her daddy die. Trying to stay strong as I lifted my voice to sing at the funeral - Amazing Grace - No. There is no grace. Someone had died. My father had died. Dived off the dock, making me laugh, splashing me. Where - no, why. Why did it go wrong? June twelfth, the accident - six inch gap and a diagnosis of paralys. Twenty-two days we waited; we hoped, we prayed, we cried. And I grew up. You see, I was there. You may not remember, but Iwas there.