A Good Father

A man looks at his child when it’s born. He is overwhelmed with joy and a sense of responsibility. He promises himself that he will be a good father.

He does his best to give his child a good life. He stays hungry so that his child can eat. He stays awake so that his child can sleep. He sacrifices everything so that the child can have everything.  

The child loves his daddy too. He clings to him. When daddy comes home, he runs to him and hugs him. The boy wants to be his daddy when he grows up. The father is filled with joy and satisfaction from the child’s affection.

But soon enough, the small boy becomes a young man. He starts to drift away from the father. He no longer wants to spend time with is dad. He starts to demand for freedom. He departs from the ways of his father. He treats his father with contempt and blames him for his misfortunes.

The father is heartbroken, for the apple of his eye is poked.

He starts to question himself. Did he do something wrong? Could it have been different if he was poorer? Could it have been different if he read stories and sung lullabies to his son every night? Could it have been different if he let his son walk to school instead of paying for the school bus? Is it because he did not attend the parents day meeting when the boy was in class two?

He wonders if things would have been different, if he raised him differently.
 

Society casts an accusing eye on him. They say its because he pampered him. They say it’s because he was hard on him. They say it’s because he was too busy at work. Everyone gives an opinion on how he should have raised his son. Everyone blames him.

But it is only he, who knows the truth.

And the truth is that all he did was out of love and sincerity.

And now he is filled with sorrow, because he feels that he has failed at the only job he wanted to excel at, being a good father.

Life is life
Fabio