To dad

I wouldn't be half the man I am,
If it weren't for you, dad.
Even if I didn't tell you that.

My love of books,
Of time for thought,
I mimicked from you after all.

If I can cook,
And wash, and still do math,
It's because you taught me work and pride.

You taught me life goes one,
Even when we all had lost,
The woman we loved most.

But what I remember most of all,
Is how you carried on when we lost mom,
How you taught yourself to cook for us.
How you learned to do what must be done,
even when you had never done anything like that before.

I know, at times you must have thought,
That you had done the worst of jobs.
But I know you must now know,
That you made us better after all.