Last Good-bye

I stood in the back and watched as an eighteen year old girl said good-bye to her fifty year old father for the last time. I watched her knees shake and her hands tremble as she walked slowly to his open casket. She looked down at him, her eyes empty from crying but full of pain and anguish. She stood looking down at him for quite some time, trying to move but not letting herself for she knew once she did she would never lay eyes on her father again. As time continued to pass everyone at the viewing found themselves in silence with their eyes fixed on this fatherless girl. Eventually the only noise that could be heard was the soft sobbing as she continued to look down at him. Finally, just as I decided I could not bare to watch anymore she stopped crying and her hands and knees stopped shaking. She stood up straight and looked down at him one last time and said, “Good-bye daddy” then smiled.