Dragon Slayer

In the days following my father's heart attack, I have to face the fact that he won't always be there for us.

My father, my mentor, my friend

You've always been there for me

Always protecting me

Always teaching me

Always loving me

Even in the worst of times

You seemed to be untouchable

No matter what happened

No matter how bad

You were there, keeping us afloat

As your daughters and wife succumb

To illnesses mental and physical

You were there, sitting by our side

Our anchor in the storm

Our solid foundation on shaky ground

But then it all came crashing down

The worst pain you've ever felt

As your heart succumbed to the stress

It felt as though my heart would break

And take me down along with you

My father, my mentor, my friend

My dragon slayer

You had a dragon in need of slaying

And there was nothing I could do

Just stand by and watch

As the ambulance took you away

I sat with my sister

As we shared each others' terror

Suddenly our support was crumbling away

We waited for word, any kind of news

And breathed a sigh of relief

When we heard you'd pull through

But even still

We had to face a fact

We'd never considered before

Some day, you won't be there

Some day, we'll be on our own

Some day our support

Will have to be each other

We'll have to find some way

To continue on

To keep our lives together

We're not ready for that day

I doubt we ever will be

I doubt we can prepare

For our lives to change forever

When we'll need a new foundation

But until that day crashes down on us

We'll love and cherish every day

Even if our family clashes sometimes

We will always love you

We will always care for you

We will make sure

Our dragon slayer knows

How much he means to us

And become your dragon slayers

Whenever you need us to be