If I could have my father with me again for one day, how old would I like to be? Young I think. Sitting on his lap or holding hands young? I think teenage years. I hope he would be a dad who would encourage his daughter to be her own person. To seek her own accomplishments and fate. He would have had to be a rare man to be of that mind, but there were a few of them back then, so it's not impossible.
In the one photo I have of us together, he is wearing a snappy hat and good suit. He looks satisfied.
Secure enough to let his children know when he is proud of them. From time to time.
An absent father keeps your dream life close. Imagination keeps it going. Removed from disappointment, an absent father lives on as the "good listener". Not the real father I ache to have had, but still an influence.
The mind has room for everything.
The understated sentiment sets just the right tone for we readers to enter into the dream. Thanks, Joan.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderfully interesting question! Thank you
ReplyDeleteA sweet essay, Joan. My father didn't die young, but he was almost always distant and unaffectionate. Many years later, I got a clue as to why. But that's a story for another day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the evocative imagery, Joan. I always thought that my Dad would have been around much longer than he was - I miss him and think of him every day.
ReplyDeleteSweet piece, Joan.. Sad, wistful, poignant....
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