This morning I heard a renowned pediatrician and child psychologist on Christian radio talking about the important role a father plays in a child’s life. It caused me to reflect on my dad, and the effect his presence has had on my life. It’s well known that our childhood experience drives us toward certain behaviors or attitudes, sometimes carried throughout our adult lives. No one had it perfect. Where there was lack, we often seek to fill the void, sometimes with things that bring more pain than blessing. If we’re honest, in different ways we’re all broken people—in need of…
I was visiting my elderly Dad in the nursing home when out of the blue he said, “You should have won that Spanish award in high school.” I looked at him in stunned silence . . . His words felt like someone trying to pick at the scar and re-open a wound from long ago. “You remember that?” I finally said. “Of course,” he replied. “We all knew you were the top Spanish student senior year, yet I never understood why the award went to someone else.” I could only shake my head in disbelief and smile. If only I’d heard…
