A Father's Day tale

A Son and his Father

It's Father's Day and I've got a philosophical tale for you from my story drawer (maybe one day I'll publish them all).

It's a tale about the child/parent relationship, but more generally about the relationship between those who love each other.

Maybe these words will resonate with you… maybe not.

I wish you a good Sunday and a happy Father's Day.

"Once upon a time.
There was a son: Aeneas.
And his father: Aegeus

Both father and son were successful.
One as a doctor, the other as a merchant.
A mutual respect had grown up between them.
Aegeus was immensely proud of his son.
Aeneas loved his father deeply.
But the two men had never been able to connect.
Aegeus had always been a distant man.
Not that he didn't love his children, but nature made him that way.
As his own father had never shown any feeling.
Aegeus didn't know how to do it either.

Aeneas knew his father loved him.
But the emotional distance weighed heavily on his shoulders.
He would have liked to share more quality time with his father.
To talk about more than work and the trivial things we share about in life.
He would have liked to talk to his father about his fears and weaknesses, his desires, his ambitions…

He would have liked to be closer to his father, but he just couldn't do it.
Why two people who love each other sometimes find it so hard to say so is a mystery.

Every year, he thought of ways to get closer
To find a way to open up his feelings, but he always put off his attempts.
He was afraid.
Afraid of what ?
He didn't even know.
Every year, he told himself he’ll open his heart.
But summers and winters followed one another.
This day never came.

One morning, the news arrived that his father was in poor health.
He ran to his father's bedside.
Fear gripped him.
His father might leave this world without knowing how much he loved him.
The journey home seems like an eternity.
Every second, a torment.

He finally arrives , climbs the stairs and jumps to his father's bedside.
His mother, brothers and sisters are there too.
The serious faces make his heart panic.
He sits down beside his father.
Tells him everything he's ever wanted to say.
Give all the love he has to give
But his father doesn't react.
A stoic, pale face.
He keeps opening his heart.
But none of it matters anymore.
His father is long gone.

He cries, then he prays.
He prays that his love will reach the sky.
Fly high enough to visit the place where his father rests.
He prays that his father will hear what he's always wanted to tell him.

The day of the funeral, his tears can't stop.
He doesn't have the strength to speak, he writes.
His hands bleed words of his heart.

"I should have can turn into I can't anymore.
The fear of doing it can turn into the regret of never being able to do it again.
The living hear our words.
The dead, no one can be sure.
Share the immensity of your love.
While you can.”

“