![]() |
A father's parable for a frustrated son (edited) |
Thatâs What Happens âSon, I really need to explain this to you. It doesnât happen often, but when it does, you canât believe the joy that fills you. Thatâs what happens when you follow your heart.â âDaaaaaaaad!â âSon, Iâm serious.â One set of sad brown eyes looked up at Sam while the other set of brown eyes glowered. âWill you just listen for a minute.â âBut, Daaaaaaaaad! Iâm not in love! Iâm angry!â âOh, I bet you are, but you brought a lot of this on yourself. Now, listen, I was about to tell you about the timeâŚâ âGeez, not another story.â âYES, now hush and listen.â The sad brown eyes continued to look up at Dad, while the frustrated brown eyes rolled, crossed and finally stared out the window. His arms crossed tightly across his chest, huffing in his state of agitation. He finally, started his parable for the benefit of his son. âIt was a long time ago; I guess I was about your age. I thought I knew everything about everything. A total jerk, just like you are being right now,â not missing a beat, he continued. "Anyway, your mom, holy cow, she was a looker! That long blonde hair, those blue eyes, sheeez; she stole my heart. I never regretted it. I love her with all my heart. It took me weeks to get the courage to ask her out.â "I know, Iâve heard this one before. Blah, blah, blah. Dad, just get to the point.â He continued to stare out the window, semi listening to the drone of the voice across the coffee table. âWell, I would do anything to impress your mom. If she had said eat poo, I would have. â Chuckling to himself, âItâs a good thing she didnât. Anyway, she was a good girl, I was the bad boy, well I followed my heart, and here you are.â The brown eyes rolled again, he flopped back on the sofa, and a sigh of frustration filled the room, âThe point dad, Iâm not doing anything like that.â âUh , oh⌠I didnât mean that. Uh, the point is you have to follow your heart. And you did. So now you have to live with the consequences of your actions; like I have to live with YOU!â âBut DadâŚâ he sat up; an astonished gasp escaped, and stood to leave, âgreat, I didnât come here for this.â Sam stood up, motioning for his son to sit, âNo, now you know I didnât mean it that way. Sit back down. I fell so hard for your mother, we were so in love. I would do anything to make her happy. I gave up my college scholarship, to be a dad for you. I worked two jobs so she could stay home with you while you were little. If you wanted anything, I would make sure we had the money to get it. We sacrificed what we wanted to make sure you had everything you needed. I guess we spoiled you. Now you think everything is supposed to be easy, but son, it wasnât always easy. Everything, Iâve done over the last, how many years? Anyway, itâs been done to make your mom happy and you happy.â Thatâs the point, son. When you follow your heart, youâre willing to over look the little things. Youâre willing to give of yourself. Your joy comes from making those you love happy.â âBut DadâŚ.â, he rolled his eyes again. The point of his visit missed the mark. No one would listen to his horrible tale, just another story about his dadâs whole life being to spoil him rotten. âAnd honestly son, I wouldnât change a minute of it. I love you almost as much as I love your mother.â Silence crept into the room. Neither man knew what to say next. âDad, Iâm furious. It has nothing to do with following my heart.â âOh but it does, son, it does!â âHow?â âYou fell in love with those beautiful brown eyes sitting over there. Look at how sheâs looking at you. Youâve made her so sad. What are you going to do about it?â âWhat?â âYou fell in love, and had to have her. You saved your money. You bought everything that sheâd need. You made sure that she was well taken care of, and did your best to keep her happy, but right now, sheâs miserable. What are you going to do about it? Youâve got to make this right.â âFell in love? Dad! I am not in love.â âThatâs what you say. But I see the way you look at her. Even when youâre angry, you wonât be angry long. Youâll look into those brown eyes and melt all over again.â âDad, youâre nuts!â âTell me you wonât forgive her any transgression. How can you look at her and not be willing to forgive her? Tell me how, if your mother looked at me that way, Iâd be on my knees begging her to forgive me for being so mean. Yes, I would, youâd better believe it.â âDad, itâs a dog.â âWell, isnât that what I said. You fell in love with those precious brown eyes, that sweet disposition, that lovable pooch. Your heart melted and you had to have her. You shouldnât have left your suit where she could get at it. She did what all pups do; she ruined it. Well son, thatâs what happens when you follow your heart.â |