What a gift from God our parents are . . .
And oh how deep of an incision into our hearts it is . . . 
To let go of . . . for a short season . . . 
Those who have been such great influences in our lives
It is like awaking one morning . . . and looking out the window
Only to notice the absence of a great oak tree
That had always been present . . . even before our birth
We remember climbing in its huge limbs
Picnics enjoyed under its magnificence 
And the many times we passed beneath its shade on a hot day
The great oak, though silent, had become a part of us
Though we were unaware of the significance of its impact
Until it was no longer there
It is then . . . and only then . . . that we realize what a part of us it had become
It is almost as though a part of us had vanished along with the great oak