Fresh Batch #34: The Affection and Care of a Father

A Parable

The relationship between men is usually one of tough love. We usually bond during shared purpose and activities, even if those activities involve going through hell together. Prior to the internet, men did not take things as personally and were not as fragile. Our fathers were tough on us, sometimes to a point where it’d push us away. But in a way, when our fathers spoke, their words had more impact, which could be beneficial or destructive. During my middle school years, when deciding if I’d go to college or what I wanted to do with my life, my father told me, “Learn history because it just repeats itself.”

He imparted these lessons onto me before I even knew who Mark Twain was as a man or what he thought about the world. One of the greatest failures in my life is not creating work successful enough to provide me with the resources to take on more responsibility, and subsequently I have no children. But when I read this parable, it resonated with me because when I got caught doing illegal things or got arrested at 12 years old, the way my father handled it made me strive to be better for him, not even for my sake. He never panicked or punished me. He just had a calm conversation with me like a man and treated me like another man. For all my father’s faults, he also is the reason I was able to be so independent at such a young age and be responsible for my behavior. I think those of you with sons and those of you who were fortunate enough to grow up with a father will appreciate this parable as I did:

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