A Farewell to Daddy

Our Sister Trip to Florida was such a relaxing getaway.  Our condo was right on the Siesta Key beach, with its soft, white sand.  

This is where we vacationed with our parents while growing up. Our Grandma lived in Sarasota, and I thought ALL sand looked like powdered sugar when I was a kid.  I was sadly disappointed the first time I went to an ocean beach with ordinary, brown sand.

My dad loved Siesta Key too.  When he died, he asked that some of his ashes were sprinkled on the sand bar. For years, my sisses and I have been trying to get together to take him there.  This year, we just said, let's just DO it, no excuses, no more waiting till we had time. 

And I am glad we did.

Sissy brought Daddy in a decorated bottle, and added some glitter.  He was in her purse for part of the trip, and I'm sure he enjoyed going out to dinner with us. Daddy always loved a good restaurant meal.

 I scrounged for shells to create an angel in the sand  for him, then made a giant heart to center the angel in.

With the white sand, and white shells, the angel doesn't show up a lot in the photos. Especially with the sun glinting off of the glitter we added around her.  

While shell hunting, I found a sparkling rhinestone earring, and a shell with a hole in it, that the earring poked into perfectly.  That was her bodice.  I also found an old, rusty PBR bottle cap, my dad's favorite beer.  That was added to the top of the sand heart.

Her wings are created from shards of an iridescent lining of some large clam type shell. We also found two of those large shells, still intact, and when opened up they were heart shaped.

We opened one of them, and sprinkled Daddy's ashes inside, then let him float away as the waves came in over the shell.

 

Comments

[Ellie]

What a beautiful and loving tribute to your dad.

[Lesley]

What a beautiful way to say goodbye. Blessings

[patty]

Beautiful post.

[Sue]

What a lovely post and tribute to your dad. It touched my heart as I spent most of my adult years in Sarasota, where I raised my family. We spent many years going to Siesta, which in my book is still the prettiest beach. All of my family still lives in the area, and my own mom's ashes were sprinkled over Venice Beach, near where she and my dad lived (he still lives there). Thanks for bringing me "home" for a few minutes! Sue

[Janet Ghio]

What a wonderful way to honor your father.

[Beth Leintz]

Sweet, so glad that you made the time to take the trip with your sissies and daddy.

[debbie york]

I can only pray my children will honor me as much as y'all did your daddy. To set sea in a heart anchored by yours...beautiful.
I also think there is a children's story here and your should write and illustrate it.
My heart to yours.
Deb

[Robin]

Beautiful Karla

[Tami Hacker]

Beautiful.

[Kim Caldwell]

Your daddy was loved Karla by you all and I'm sure he felt it from heaven. You have such a beautiful heart. . .

[Karla Nathan]

Ive never seen those shells on the beach before, and we were so lucky to find them while walking out to sprinkle his ashes. The heart shape shell was meant to be, and just waiting for daddy!

[Pallas]

Your sweet story brought tears to my eyes. My sisters and I always called our father Daddy too. We lost our Daddy in 2009 and miss him everyday.

[Karla Nathan]

It doesnt matter how old a child is, does it? Ill always want to tell my mom about my day and Ill always think of my father as daddy.

Im sorry for your loss, Pallas.

From: Typepad

[Lisa Showalter]

What a beautiful heart warming story. Tugs at my heart the love you all show one another. 💖
Such special moments shared among your loved ones. Another of your shell angels so lovingly created... they are so charming. The heart shell with the ashes floating out to sea....💗 ... an amazing tribute to your father.
~as my beloved grandmother would have said (and I miss her dearly) 'another jewel in your crown' 👑
~I also think it would be a lovely book.

[Laura Strack]

Oh Karla, I can't help the tears that fall from my eyes. This was such a wonderful tribute to your Dad. To find the heart shaped shells and rhinestones for goodness sake,and then the beer cap from his fave beer? It was just all meant to be - a special day for you and your sisters and a special day for your Dad. I have to think that he helped plan a few of those special moments. Don't you? Your Angel was so cute. My Daddy has been gone 10 years and I miss him so. Maybe I will find a Pabst Blue Ribbon Can laying around somewhere this week - MY Dad's fave beer ;) I don't think it was ever bottled. Lol. Thank you for sharing your sweet day :)

[Karla Nathan]

It was serendipity, to find the heart. So perfect for him. But we only found two, and there were three of us. Looks like I need to go back to Florida to get one more shell...
Yes, it was a lovely moment, Im blessed to have perfect sisters to share a day like that with.

[Karla Nathan]

We spent some time in Venice too, Sue. Another gorgeous beach, but a completely different type. Funny, how a short drive away, there is such a huge change.

[Karla Nathan]

Laura, this was a PBR bottle cap, so yes, it was bottled. I remember him drinking that when I was a child. And thinking, blue ribbon? That must be so special!
He hadnt had a drink in years, but I still topped off the heart in the sand with the PBR lid as a toast to his youth.

[Karla Nathan]

It will always be a beautiful memory for us, of one last week with our dad!

[Yvonne Welty]

Thanks for sharing your story. What a great send off for your dad!

[Laurie Jackson]

How wonderful.

[Lorali Longfellow]

Thank you for sharing such a beautiful message Karla!

[Terri]

What a special story from a special family. Thank you for sharing!

[Sandy]

What a touching post, Karla. Such a special way to honor your fathers wishes. Hugs.

[Sheila Rumney]

What a beautiful tribute to your dad. Sending hugs your way.

[jeanie]

I love this. And I'm having this feeling that your dad loved every minute.