Four ???????????????????? ????????????, ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ???????????????????? ????????????. I had the opportunity to be with him for a while, about four weeks before he passed.
As he laid in his bed, getting weaker and weaker and having a dose of Alzheimer’s, he reminisced about a scene frequently. In it, he remembered his stepfather coming home and putting a penny on the table in front of him and crying. He couldn’t feed his family.
My dad was probably about seven years old, which would have made it around 1932, a few years after the great depression. As he remembered the scene in 2017, it moved him to tears.
That had been a pivotal moment for him, and as an adult and a therapist, I could see how it had informed his life.
My dad was a welder. He worked every day until he retired. He worked all the available overtime; he worked weekends to get double pay. We didn’t have expensive family holidays, and we lived in a council house; our life was simple. But there was ALWAYS enough food and money to pay the rent and bills.
For much of my youth, I had focused on his shortcomings, on the lack of connection. As we prepared to say goodbye, I was able to see his achievements much more clearly. ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????. He had raised four caring, intelligent, protected children.
???? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????.
If you feel to, you are welcome to share in the comments.
