You gave me my teddy

To sooth away my fears

You hugged me tight

To calm my tears

You took me to hospital

When I cut my face

You fixed my bike’s tyre

Punctured in a race

You left the light on

When I was scared of the dark

You took me to play football

How I loved the park

You consoled me

When I lost my job

You gave me money for the rent

That helped a lot

You was there for me

When I needed to talk

I remember our Sundays

On the canals, those walks

You had an accident

The first of a few

Several more came

Didn’t know what to do

You repeated yourself

All the same stories

I would listen each time

You would never bore me

You would have a stroke

And never be the same

How you reacted

Hope it would never be again

But behind the stroke

There was something else

A cancerous tumour

Eating at your health

I remember watching you

Hugging you so tight

Not wanting to let go

Seeing how you fight

All the treatments

Eating you alive

Thank god you had

Your caring wife

You had lost your weight

Your strong cuddly frame

Now just a shell of yourself

Not to be the same

Until the day they called

And you was taken in

Hospital again

It would all begin

Holding onto your hand

I would watch you sleep

Quietly beside you

I would weep

Talking to you

Wishing you would wake

Come back to us

I would take your place

As the machine starts to beep

And I watch you go

I will miss you forever

My father, my hero