1994

 

I've carried nineteen years of memories

for twenty-eight years.

Counting his beginning steps at six months,

then, as a toddler, his trusting little hand 

holding my finger as we walked outside together.

Playing in Lake Michigan

at four years old.

Soothing his hurts from early spills

on his bike at six years.

Estimating the length of the bass we caught

in the Grand River when he was fourteen.

Worrying the hours while waiting for him

to return home; driving at sixteen.

Timing the miles during Forest Hills Central 

Track and Cross Country meets at seventeen.

Calculating his climbs while hiking with Ross Peterson

on the Appalachian Trail at eighteen.

Crying the tears over his death

in November of nineteen ninety-four.

Saying the prayers at his gravestone

when I'm forty-six, or seventy-four.

Carrying years of memories up the slopes;

 memories as permanent as mountains.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

End Note: 

This year Aaron would be 47. Born on April 2, 1975.

I was 46 when he died at age 19, on November 20, 1994.

Photo Locations:

1. First Home - Cascade, Michigan - Photo by Mary Havenga

2. Lake Michigan - Charles Mears State Park - Pentwater, Michigan 

3. Mom & Dad's Farm - Ada, Michigan

4. East Grand Rapids

5. Appalachian Trail National Park  - Photo by Ross Peterson 

6. West Elk National Wilderness Area - Colorado