Father's Day
The subtle chime of
Westminster clock echoes another hour, as light in the evening sky slowly
recedes from the living room window into the shadows of early dusk…the house is
quiet except for the ticking of the clock, but the old mans thoughts are very
much alive with the moving figures of children, laughing from chasing games they
played so long ago...“Beware the Claw!” and “Roar”!
Memories, all with happy
endings, play out in his mind like old black and whites as he sits comfortably
in a shapely wooden chair passed down to him from his grandfather.
Content, a smile trembles on
his lips with far away gaze, captured in the mirror with the last rays of light
from the sky. It’s Fathers day, and his children would surly call…
Would they remember the silly
bedtime stories that never had an ending, the summer campfires of sparks and
marshmallows, stargazing till sleep took them in lawn chairs, or the walks in
elf forest, with the plunder of the elves little treasure chest full of old
coins found in the hollow of a tree…would they remember the winter magic of
jumping in snow drifts ten feet tall, the toboggan runs full of laughter or the
ice rink behind the house with lit up trees and imaginations…It’s Fathers day,
and his children would surely call.
Thoughts turn to his own
father, the man that took life by the horns, and made everything alright. A
hero who fought on the side of good in World War II, who became a community
builder, coach, mentor and teacher. The man who drove his son around on his
Sunday paper route in a four-door powder blue Plymouth Fury III with perfectly
folded newspapers stacked in rows on the front seat ready for delivery by a
nine-year-old boy.
Memories wisp and billow to
an age in time when the boy was gently woken by the aroma of buttered toast,
coffee, and CFCF radio 600; his father was always the first one up and made
them all breakfast. Hockey games in the winter, soccer in the summer and
football in the fall, all echo the old man’s cheers and shouts of encouragement
in the halls of yesteryear that encompass fond memories in a boy now past his
fathers age…
The clock chimed another hour
and still the phone was silent…no worry, today is Fathers day, and surly the
children will call…
Thoughts go back to a
hospital room where his father battled terminal illness…a cold numbness still
remains from the day he passed away; recalling the helplessness felt as he
watched his old man die in front of his eyes…wondering still, if he heard his
words in transit to the light...“I love you Dad”!
Just as thunder startles
life, a knock at the door shakes the old man to the present, as the hallway
fills with the merry sounds of children and adults who fill the room with
smiles and a “Happy Fathers Day Grandad”!
“Go put your things away or
the Claw will come to get you!” said the old man’s son to his giddy happy
little boy.
"It’s so good to see you
Dad, Happy Father's Day"!
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