There is a certain kind of honour
that the vain can never know
it is a selflessness, a caring and a strength
that runs so deep
a man can live a life by it
This honour
my father, Natale, had gained
although exactly where it came from
he could never have explained
It is something beyond words
but i'll try my best
I'm sure some of it came from his parents
Sammy, his Italian father, who is with him now in heaven
always had a brilliant compassion in his eye
some of that definitely rubbed off on Nat
As a boy he lived and breathed hockey
he played with a passion
that turned heads
On the most competitive teams
he wore a C
In high school he played both ways for St.Joe's football
quarterback and middle linebacker
his coach told the other kids
to watch his example
hoping that his heart and commitment might rub off of them
Nat ended up going to the University of Edmonton
on a scholarship to play football for the Golden Bears,
disagreements in the drama department resulted in him leaving school
and coming back home to Ontario
I guess that's not too surprising
because he always loved to argue
and that can rub some people the wrong way
but he really hated to fight
He then surprisingly tried out for the
for the Smith's falls bears,
made the team
and played Junior A hockey
this was the swan song of his athletic career
an athlete is honourable because his efforts inspire
and athletes end up making good coaches too
With my father gone, we have indeed lost a great coach
but his inspiration is growing still
I am sure he is skating away
giving it all he has in heaven
as he does in my mind
Competitive sports behind him
poetry took over as my father's vocation
he wrote about his love for nature, for Canada
his family and friends
he could plunge into esoteric ethereal ranges of the mind
and return with a literary idea
based on deep emotion
His wife, Geraldine, our mother
fell in love with him maybe because of his two passions
and from those two came a third, a family
and to my father it was the most important
as we mourn the loss of my father in the flesh
may we also celebrate his successes in life
