Making Time
Posted on 2005-04-04
Visiting. Spending time with a loved one. Making time for them. Why is it so difficult for some???
We all have our own lives. We all have our own problems. But surely we can still make time for a loved one??? Even a simple phone call would do, but a visit would be so much better. Regular visits, not one every 10 years or so. Time spent together is so precious, although we often do not realise it, and children grow up so fast.
We can always say that life now is very different from our parents' time. True enough. But they too had their own lives to lead and their own problems, that goes without saying. Problems plague us no matter what decade or what century we live in. But there is this other thing called priorities. Surely making time to visit one's own Daughter, [or Mother, Father or even Grandparents], is not such a sacrifice???
I'm here, and he's there. Both of us grow older with each passing year, and now I'm an adult I can't even call up and casually say, "Dad, I'm coming over. What's there to eat???" How I wish I could.
Family ties. Family relationships. Passing down one's culture and traditions. Sitting down together. Sharing stories. Sharing meals. Sharing laughter. Don't sever ties. Don't break the chain. To be able to console, or to give a reassuring hug when dreams or hearts are broken, or when tears are shed. To take walks together, or something as simple as sipping a hot cup of tea whilst watching t.v. I did that with my Father once. I don't any more. I haven't done so for years.
And after each visit, after each time he pops in and out of my life, I can't help wondering when it will happen again. I wonder and I hope. I always hope that this time wasn't the last.
Even now I can't help resenting my Step-Mother for making my Father choose between me and her. It's obvious from his actions, or rather lack of them, who he picked. But then he should never have been asked to make that choice in the first place.