A Poem from a Father to His Son

For those of you who were not able to attend the funeral I shared a poem that I wrote for Bryce as a gift this past Christmas. I am not a poet, but felt very inspired as I wrote this poem. It was amazing to me how the words flowed to me and how quickly I was able to compose it. At the end of the poem it almost seems prophetic to me.

A Poem from a Father to his Son

The Father loved all of His spirit children beyond measure;
And thus it was His desire to provide them with a great treasure.
Not a treasure of precious jewels, silver or gold;
No this was much, much greater – something very bold.

In that first estate a Grand Council was called for all of His children to meet;
And when they were all gathered together each took their seat.
Each child anxiously waited to hear what the Father would say;
He presented His Great Plan of Happiness to His children on that day.

When asked whom to send, the Son of Man answered, ‘Here am I, send me’
Another also answered to be sent, but his plan was selfish, which the Father did see.
The Father said he would send the first, which to most of His children was a delight;
The second was angry and rebelled and was cast out of God’s sight.

Each spirit child then faced an eternal decision of who he or she would follow;
When a third rebelled against Father it must have been difficult for us to swallow.
We chose to follow the Father and received a promise that we would ‘be added upon’;
And if we kept our second estate the Father said that all He had would be ours for which we longed.

Lucifer then became the devil and destroying man’s agency is what he sought;
He and his followers then caused a great war in heaven that had to be fought;
The firstborn son, Jehovah, and Michael, were chosen as leaders on the Father’s side;
And the noble and great ones joined them in the fight against evil and to turn the tide.

My son, Bryce, you were among the noble and great ones in this pre-earth life;
You were a faithful and valiant spirit son of the Father and helped in this strife.
As a valiant son you were foreordained to come down to earth;
With great promises given to you of the Father because you were of great worth.

You chose in the beginning to live a life that would be very hard;
And you were willing to do so because you could bless others in this regard.
You chose to be born to a mother and father who would love you very much;
With two wonderful sisters with whom you could also get in touch.

The Father reserved you to be born in the final dispensation of time;
To also be born in America, the land of liberty, was very sublime.
The Father also blessed you to be born in a family that had the Gospel of Christ;
And you have been taught since you were a young a child of His terrible great price.

What a great joy and blessing your mother and father received;
When they learned to them a boy would be born that they conceived.
You were a beautiful baby boy with thick dark hair;
You were truly an answer to your mother and father’s prayers.

Then to our dismay at nine months of age our baby boy got very sick;
We took you to doctors and specialists for treatment and we did so very quick.
They took you from us as we sat in the waiting room;
We could hear your cries of pain and we were filled with such gloom.

Finally after what seemed forever they brought you out soaking wet from tears;
We hugged you tightly as we offered many prayers.
A diagnosis of kidney failure due to post-urethral valves is what we were told;
And a future kidney transplant would be required for our little boy as he got old.

We felt if we could only show enough faith that Heavenly Father would heal our son;
But in the end we had to say that God’s will be done.
At age two your kidney function went downhill;
And the requirement for a kidney transplant began to look real.

Your mother and father were both tested to see who could donate to you;
Your father was rejected, which left it up to your mother to do.
She willingly sacrificed for her son who was her love;
Your mother trusted in God who was our Father above.

Many prayers were offered, priesthood blessings and fasting too;
In preparation for the surgeries that awaited both of you.
The day of the transplant, December 13th, 1985, finally came;
Your father hugged you and your mother as you were taken to the OR that day.

Kidney rejection for you and toxic shock for Mom;
This was very difficult for your father to have you both in the ICU and remain calm.
Your father in desperation and grief to the chapel he went;
For he felt that his faith was all but spent.

It was during this extremely difficult time that a new trust of God was born;
For in my pain and sorrow I learned there was a Father that I could adorn.
A new favorite scripture became mine of which I could impart;
This scripture taught me to ‘Trust in the Lord with all of my heart.’

The kidney sadly never really did work and after five weeks was finally removed;
Dialysis was then started and the following August a second transplant was approved.
This kidney didn’t work well and was taken out after a number of weeks;
We were all very sad and had tears run down our cheeks.

Four years of hemo- or peritoneal dialysis resulted in many ills;
Just thinking about it again brings back many chills.
On the way home from a difficult day of dialysis the question was posed;
‘Daddy, why do I have to go through such pain?’ is what you disclosed.

I told my little boy I didn’t know why you had to suffer such pain;
God loved you so much and you were blessed more than many others I tried to explain.
Shortly after this your little sister, Heidi, offered for you a prayer;
That you would receive a new kidney – is what she declared.

Following that prayer you simply said, Dad, it is okay if I don’t get a kidney today;
As you told me before I have been blessed in so many ways.
A short time later in June 1990 your father received a new call;
I was called to serve on the stake high council with them all.

A setting apart and blessing were given by President Wally Nielsen on a Tuesday night;
In that blessing you were blessed to receive a kidney and that you would be alright.
On Saturday morning, less than four days later, a kidney donor for you was found;
After waiting for two years for a kidney this whole experience was very profound.

The kidney worked well for a short time, but then terrible rejection once again set in;
A trip to Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital for an experimental drug was planned then.
However, it was cancelled because you became too sick to go;
At the time this seemed to us to be one more terrible blow.

We still trusted in our Heavenly Father’s care;
Through His tender mercies we didn’t despair.
A great miracle took place shortly afterwards for you;
Our Father reversed the rejection and you were soon home again it is true!

The kidney you received 18 years ago from a drowned little boy;
Continues to function well which brings us much joy.
The years have gone by with continuing adversities for our son;
And seeing him filled with pain and sorrow has also hurt us a ton.

Yet we continue to know that God loves our dear Bryce,
He will bless our dear son with compensatory blessings that will be so nice.
Satan still desires to destroy you from the war fought before;
Please keep the armor of God about you and you will be protected by the Lord.

At this Christmas time we know that life for you is still very tough;
We continue to pray to Father for it to be finally enough.
Yet we feel such gratitude that you are still here with us;
For we know that God has given us this wonderful plus.

We thank you for the trust you have placed in God through these difficult times;
The blessings will come as promised and recorded in these rhymes.
You will find great happiness and joy in this life;
We know you will be blessed in the future with a wonderful family and wife.

Please continue to be faithful to live your life in the right way;
And remember that it is to a loving Father to whom you pray.
The day will come in the future that you will return to our first home;
And then you will remember the beginning as recorded in this poem.

You will then know it was worth the sorrow and the pain;
For the incomprehensible blessings you will then gain.
Our Father in Heaven will take you in his arms with love;
And you will feel the immeasurable love and joy from above.

With all of my love,
Your Earthly Father