From the mind of a father, translated…
Don’t know how other parents would interact with their young in the car? To tell the truth, I have little to NO experiences in this. Even if I’d spent six years, driving my child to school, but, the time we were engaged in conversations can be counted with my fingers, and, the total time may not even be nearly eight hours.
Most of the times, he’d be reading and I, driving, all the way, we drove in silence, until we reached his school, then, as he got out, he’d told me goodbye; when he’s in a good mood, then, he’d say a couple more words to me, or maybe when he’d wanted something for sports, then, he’d opened up. Sometimes, we didn’t get off on the right foot, and, as we’re about to open up, he’d shut back down again, and this sort of chauffeuring with little to NO interactions at all seemed unwarming, but, as a father, I’d still enjoyed every single moment of it.
In the past couple of years, I’d been very busy at work, back then, the company I’d worked for wanted to change the hours of work from eight in the morning instead of nine, I’d worked hard, to persuade the CEO to not do so, reason being how I’d already given almost every hour of my waking life to the company, and that only in the mornings would I have the time to spend with my son, and if the company started an hour earlier, than, I wouldn’t even have the time to interact with my son anymore. And, unless I have business calls in the evenings, I’d always taken my son to school every single day.
And because I’d cherished the time we’d shared together, I’d still asked him about the matters that “parents feel important, but the kids are bored by”, for instance, his schoolwork, the goings on of his days, but, my son had an all too low need to reply to me, sometimes, he’d remained silent, and, all I could do, was to hold my own temper down, and whenever I felt I couldn’t take it anymore, my wife’s “children are born for us to love” would surface into my mind.
And even if there were only a handful number of times we’d actually shared meaningful conversations, I’m still truly glad that I got a chance to talk to son about some of the issues. For instance, “the fake hitting baseball scandal”, it’d allowed him to see the darker side of the sports world, and it’d taught him about the true spirit of an athlete. Although, we have our differences in view on the Apache Helicopter incident, but, to be able to discuss it with one another rationally, it’d allowed him to have an alternative point of view in his college interviews, and gained the commend of the professors. But, most of the times, I’m the one, falling silent, because of his sharp tongue, I’m truly impressed at his keen sense of observation.
Six years flew by quickly, I no longer have the chances of taking him to school, I’d started feeling that sense of loss now. Before he graduated, I’d tossed aside my own ego, and mentioned to him how I wanted to be there at his elementary school graduation, and I got shot down by him once again, and, on my way to work, took along my heart of loss, I’d still texted him, “Congratulations on graduating, high school is a beautiful memory, do have your friends take more photos of you as memorabilia.” He’d still just read and not replied, until the noon hours, he’d replied, “okay”, he truly IS not talkative at all, saving every single one of his world man.
And, the six years of shared, heartwarming moment I’d taken him to school, had, come to an end.
So, this, is the empty nest of the father, he’d worked really hard, to be a part of his son’s life, and, his son just saved up his words, and, it’s still not either one of their faults, because the children will not tell their parents everything, and you, as parents should just have faith, that your kids will come to you, on the important matters in their lives, and that, is all that you can do, just be there for them.