To Fathers

Today—the day after Father's Day—I saw the most lovely thing. At one minute to my train's departure time, I was still in the parking lot, running at full tilt to the platform. As I approached, I noticed a man casually standing on the platform near the doors.

His cream polo shirt with orange and red stripes was tucked neatly into his khaki pants. He had a fair amount of hair left—a bit fluffy, in the color scheme of his shirt—and large glasses with thin rims.

As I threw myself into the open door of the train, I realized he was standing there conversing happily with his son, a nice kid in the image of his father, wearing a charity fundraiser t-shirt and a sixteen-year-old grin.

I took my seat, as the doors closed and the train started out. The father started out too—framing himself in the window across from his son and waving with the same grin. He smiled and waved and kept pace with the train. Occasionally stooping down in the classic imitation of going down stairs. The train moved faster, and so did this dad. He ran along with his ipad in one hand and more waving with the other until the platform ran out and the train was out. And by then, I was crying.

I'm crying again as I write this. Everything about it was just so beautiful: all the joy brimming over and the love pouring out, and the son who seemed to enjoy it. The train goes to the airport, so it's possible this was goodbye for longer than a day, but I doubt this kid was going away for very long. I think his dad just really likes him.

It reminded me of the father who wore 170 different costumes over the school year as he waved to his son on the bus. You can read about that here.

I think seeing these two made me happy because my dad is sort of like them. He doesn't wear silly costumes, and he's never sent me away on public transit. But he hangs around like that. He keeps talking with me until the last second, and that always makes me feel loved. It's clear that he loves me and my brother by his smile. My dad is a great man through and through.

I wanted to share this video on fathers. It's a bit repetitive, but I think about it often.



P.S. Super and I got married! Hence my lack of posting. Do forgive me. To whet your appetite for great pictures of us, you can go here: http://olsonandpitts.ourwedding.com.