Had my father still been alive on this day, he would have turned 80 years of age. That is perhaps not a major feat in this day and age, but it would be a formidable achivement for the absolute majority of the time that humanity has been an extant species.

Words can barely express how I miss him and would like him to still be with my family today. I miss his experience of the rough world and his life growing up in the years after the second world war, his ability to do and to make and bring home with barely a complaint even when the times were hard on him, his decent and good style of parenting, his support during difficult times, his experienced sailor’s wit and humor…

You never know when those you love and are close to are taken from you for whatever reason. It often seems to come at an unexpected (and certainly unwelcome!) time. Therefore, give love and honor your parents in ample amount, because they brought you into this often hostile world at great cost to themselves. If your relationship with your parents is difficult, then at least do your best to mend the ties.

If (No, When!) you lose a parent, you will lose a part of yourself; you will lose their knowledge of the world before you came into it. You will lose access to their memories and wisdom and wit, and it can never be quite reanimated from text or audiovisual recordings or the like. You will lose their living perspective, their ability to put their view of the world into words that mean something to you.

You will lose a bridge to your self.

Written in loving memory of Carsten Bjørn Perlsø (b. Hansen); 1944-2001.