Raul Martins Simoes

My love, my dear. You see, my love Avô, how my gaze has always been fixed on you and my face always turned upward looking at you. I have always been mesmerized by your genuity…you are so true. You are so honest. You have a gift of love in your heart that speaks loudly in the humble posture of silence you would always stand. You always stood so tall, you reminded me of a mountain – because your firm foundation withstood any force that came upon you. You are strong, yet gentle – like a precious white dove, that drifts in the air while carrying the banner of universal peace on its shoulders. You have always been so humorous – I don’t know if I’ve ever told you, but your wink of an eye brought so much healing to my heart. Every wink peeled away a layer of anxiety and opened a new chamber of joyful tranquility within me. I felt at peace. I felt certain during times of confusion and uncertainty. Tell me, dear Avô, how did you do that? How could you change one’s perspective with one wink of an eye? Avô, my dear Avô. I know what I have is memories of you and the symbolic treasuries that tell of your heroic journey…but dear Avô, I feel with a certainty that you have also left us with more. The spirit that animates our hearts in each endeavour we have ever made, is the spirit of your soul. For every pace that we take is accompanied with the image of your loving face and teary eyes telling of the wholehearted love and contentment you received from our strides. O, my dear Avô, you were always so selfless. Even while you took presence in physical form, and we were held apart by distance, I felt ever so close to you – and this nearness I believe to never fade. We are one, my dear Avô. You are the energy that wakes me out of bed in the morning and the breath of wind pushing against my back as I run the marathon of life. O Avô, you are as the bones to my limbs and the colour to my world. Your legacy is written in the stars, and it is those same stars I hope to follow as the marathon we run continues into the darkness of the night. O Avô, you see, how my gaze has always been and will always be upwards, looking upon you, listening to you, and following you. Dear Avô, you have left me astonished and in awe. How can an individual be as immovable as a mountain, as powerfully luminating as a star, and as energy-giving as a breath of air to the lives of others, while living their own? My dear love, you ran your marathon with a heart devoted on assisting others with theirs. My dearest love. You always told me of the way you blew kisses towards our picture every day that you passed through the dining room...you know, the picture placed above the radio. O my dear, I will kiss your picture forevermore. I will kiss the ground that you walked upon, and the pillow where you lay your head to rest each night. I will kiss the swing set that you were always so adamant on assembling every year we visited Portugal, and I will kiss the dining room chair you ran to during supper because you wouldn’t want to miss a moment of family time. Meu querido, my heart longs to kiss the stars that lead to you. And I promise I will...I promise as I run my marathon and follow the guiding lights above I will kiss each one...because in each is a photo of you. I love you, my dear Avô, I love you so much. Bejinhos e teja meu querido.