Laying Joseph in his cot I was struck once more by his resemblance to my father, his grandfather. There, in miniature, were the lively almost mischievous eyes, lit with laughter from some private joke he could never share. The smile Joseph beamed at me as I zipped up his sleep bag and tickled his feet through its quilting was totally Dad, warm and embracing. I kissed my little boy on the forehead and turned to go, my head filled with thoughts of my father.
Thoughts of how his hand felt to hold when I was a boy, the skin rough with hard work, the fingers strong and inescapable. His deep voice would carry through the house, the one sound that would rouse me from my daydreaming and play, sending me scurrying downstairs for tea. The smell of his cigarettes were reassuring back then, a warm woody smell that always made me feel safe as I cuddled into his tall wide frame.
I remembered the jobs he had, so many of them, none of them anything close to what you could describe as career progression; shop keeper, TV technician, taxi driver, ice cream man to name but a handful. As a boy I marvelled at the changing nature of my Dad’s jobs, always half anticipating he would come home as something new and exciting. While other boys’ fathers worked the same boring job year in year out, it seemed as if, with Dad, that anything was possible.
He was taller than most of my friend’s dads and even when I finally grew past his height, an achievement that made him proud where lesser men might have been envious, he still seemed a giant to me. Even in middle age my father managed to maintain the illusion of being bigger than life, like a mythic figure both all powerful and immortal. Which might explain why he kept his diagnosis from me for so long, a last show of strength to protect me from the inevitable.
It took a long time to forgive him for that, for my missing the first years of his illness, yet he dealt with that in much the same way as anything in life that caused him heartache, with wisdom and with music. It was a quiet night, Mum was at work late and I was on Dad duty, by now he was too ill to be left alone. He put a CD on and shuffled off upstairs to bed.
At the door he turned and simply said, ‘This is for you.’
He had chosen the song carefully knowing it would fill me with a real understanding of his imminent death making all my petty anguishes irrelevant. I ran upstairs, taking them two at a time, and caught him on the landing as he came out of the toilet. He smiled as he saw me, told me he was sorry too as I held him hard enough to keep him with me forever.
9 Responses to Grief – #fridayflash
Very touching, filled with poignancy both loving and grief-filled. Thank you for sharing.
OH how lovely that reminded me so much of my own Father and that awful time. I don't think you ever get over it you just grow to live with it. The death of my father was something I had always dreaded. It was my worst nightmare. But now I have the strength that I can handle anything. Do you mind telling me what the song was?
Thank you for sharing this.
Very lovely!
Lovely feeling and pace. The last sentence made me misty.
Great bridging of the generations. I really liked that the eyes of his son were what sparked his reminiscence of his father. That's a form of biological memory or mirror, seeing our forefathers in our children. Nicely done.
–Jeff Posey
I love the way you collide the ordinary (leaving the toilet) with the extraordinary (the hug and the understanding which passes between the two of them)
I also enjoyed the reminiscing – of what it was to hold hands as a child and the larger than life personification of the man (we were just talking about that yesterday – how someone so small can appear so large!)
And I agree the second commentor – what is the song?
This is a snippet of prep writing for a novel I have planned. It is however based on a real event between me and my Dad before he died. The song was a Bobby Darin number called, 'Where is the one?' Technically it's a love song between a man and a woman, but the words can equally be applied to any loved one as it is all about the space they leave behind.
You captured a powerful moment here, Dan. I'm sorry to hear about your dad, but it appears that he left you a great legacy of love. Good stuff.
So very well written, yet it breaks my heart.
I look forward to reading your novel…when you've finished it
~2
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