Happy Father's Day

Dad and Ata... Age 6... Kashan , Iran 1935

A little boy by the name of Jackson today told me that he "had lost the will to live" as he lined up for the end of the day. I looked at him and he reiterated it. I told him he just couldn’t say something like that and then walk out of the class that we would need to talk about it some more. He looked at me not understanding what it was in what he had said that I had failed to grasp.
“I am dead serious!” he exclaimed.
I explained to him that it was precisely because of what he had said that we would need to talk more.
And before I knew it tears started streaming down his chubby mischievous face.
It would seem that his father, a very successful businessman would not be here in Vancouver for Father's Day. He would be away until July in Tibet, perhaps even longer. He started to sob how much he was going to miss his father, how much he really needed his father. I started to make suggestions about scanning and email the card he had just finished making for his dad to him. But the father did not have access to the Internet. What about photocopying and faxing the card to him? That also did not work as neither Jackson nor his mother had the father’s phone number in Tibet. I promised him that his father would phone… after all it was going to be Father’s Day. But the boy could not be consoled. We hugged for a while as he cried with me assuring him that it was good to cry and that he needed to cry and talk it out.
“Jackson, can I tell you a secret? I am very sad this Father’s Day. You see my dad is very sick, he has cancer. And we are afraid that this will be the last Father’s Day we will be able to celebrate together. And it made me so sad that I cried all of last weekend. But, and I know this is a difficult one to see when you are missing your dad so much, that this will be the only Father’s Day that your dad will not be with you. You will have him with you next year… and you will talk to him this year… I promise you he will phone.”
We spoke a bit longer as we hugged each other. He sniffled and buried his head into my chest and whispered “Thank you” and with that he went away.

This is dedicated to all of you who cannot be with your fathers…

Happy Father’s Day, Dads…
w h e r e v e r you are.

06/15/07 Update: Went to check in on Jackson today... Happy to report a humongous smile on his radiant face... His dad called from Tibet last night... He owes me $10!