I am saying goodbye… “Goodbye, To you and to a chapter of my life!”

I am saying goodbye… “Goodbye, To you and to a chapter of my life!”

To My Very Dear Daughter, My Sarah Beth,

I affectionately greet you, my dear child. I greet you in our Savior Jesus Christ’s abiding love, rich mercy and profound grace.

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· His love for us is a gift – Agape (Agape) spiritual, self-sacrificial, unconditional, comprehensive and pervasive, as mine is for you!

· God does not give us what we do deserve, e.g. Hell. His mercy for us is a gift – Mercy (Mercy)

·God does give us what we do not deserve, e.g. Heaven. His grace for us is a gift – Grace (Grace)

Well now, Sweetheart, we have all made our time through this first twenty-four hours at your departure and separation from our home & us to “The Honors Academy”. We have all fared perfectly well, haven’t we? You will have arrived in Texas, found a new, large, and growing circle of friends there at the “The Honors Academy”, discovered your new way, your new surroundings, your new home, your new acclimation and be in the initial acclamation at “The Honors Academy”.

While still at BWI, Mom and I ate breakfast at the Airport Restaurant. We had just shared our fond “Fare ye wells”, with you. While dining there, we collated about a million precious reminiscences with moist eyes and tender hearts. We were not only all right we were great! There was not a way to capture this collation of nostalgics we were excitedly sharing with each other, on camera, or recorder, and we even thought not to. We realized that should we capture these and should a copy fall into your procession, your heart and head would swell up and burst with our pride and your worth to us. We would not want to be responsible for your early demise.

We were waiting for your flight’s departure time, when we were going to go up to the observation deck and there to wave our final final, “Fare ye wells!” As you can guess that was more for ourselves than for you, since we knew you could not see our loving compliments, from your flying plane. My precious darling, we found ourselves rehearsing, our mutual sentiments: “We love you!” “We are so very proud of you!” “We fervently and earnestly pray for your!” “We are excited and we rejoice with you in your present and new God-gifted opportunities!”

While traveling in our Conversion Van, back towards home, Mom & I continued to share our pleasant thoughts with each other. We allocate our animations with you, regarding the beautiful prospects that we see and know are before you. We compared your prospects and scenarios: both to the well-tended plush, lush, treed and flowered gardens, and to the broad panoramic vistas stretching out before you in fields untouched, laden in bloom, spanning the vast horizons.

All of life is before you and it is filled with all the wonder and all the awe of God’s infinite wisdom and creative genius. His absolute plan is to make you into an even more completely perfect and most holy servant of Himself, the infinite God.

I am saying goodbye… “To you and to a chapter of my life!”

With you, we will enjoy your gardens and your fields in their seasons, as you joyfully report back home to your favorite Mom and Dad!

Still, while traveling in our Conversion Van, back towards home, Mom & I visited that new Chinese Restaurant that she has take each of us to see. We enjoyed this lunch very much, even A+++!

We did eventually return home, picked up our salary check, did some banking, did some light shopping, watched a movie, snacked, made passionate love and slept. I love your Mom more than ever and you know how much I always have loved her. We both feel that our love for each other grows daily! When we awoke, we decided to enjoy a late steak dinner at “The Cracker Barrel”. While eating, we realized together, that we too, had entered into yet another new chapter in our own lives. We were so glad to have this whole day together to adjust to this extraordinary “empty nest” feeling. You have been an incredibly large and awesomely important daily part in our lives. We shall look forward to Christmas.

Now, after, having, raising and now successfully launching our six children we were beginning this delightful new chapter. Some call it, “The Empty Nest Chapter”. To both of us that seems a slight negative connotation. We prefer to title our new chapter, “The Hearts Filled with Rejoicing Chapter”. Though married June 10, 1967, we only enjoyed, “The Just Being Married Chapter”, until January 14, 1972, at the arrival of our first, and until the launching of our sixth, August 14, 2003. Our devotion to each other had been being shared with our devotions to each of our family members. For these thirty-one years eights month’s to the very day, our devotion was heaped upon our young children, each very dependent upon us in varying, but graduating degrees. Now, we are completing this most wonderful chapter. Our child-rearing chapter is filled with tons and tons and bushels and bushels and gobs and gobs. Our thoughts fill us with warmth, meaning, purpose, love, and worship as we rehearse.

We are available to you, and to each of your siblings. Mind you well, we did enjoy every chapter, but this new chapter for us, is going to be most deeply appreciated. It will be filled with our greatest love, while we are still in the prime of our natural lives. We are most blessed with strength, energy, faith, experience and a multiplicity of successes.

En Agape, Dad

I am saying goodbye… “To you and to a chapter of my life!” By Lester Duaine Allen

© Copyrighted Tuesday, March 24, 2009 York PA