Families, Dear Families

Seth sat on the park bench watching the parents playing with their children and the couple that was walking through the park on a sunny day that seemed to relax your bones until you feel like melting into the warm cement sidewalk. Thinking back to his own childhood, he regretted how he treated his parents. He was on the rebellious side and every time his parents were getting calls from his school about how he disrupted classes that he was in. How he bullied someone at school and they got lectured about how the parents could spend more time with him. Show him how to enact with different people would help him during school time and how that would help him get friends. The Principal wanted to discuss how if they spend more time with their child would benefit him.

He could remember the time that he had hated the teenage girl that lived next to his families; she had told everyone how he was rude to her and shoved her around. Most of his class was not happy with his behavior and some of the guys told him what they thought of his action. His parents tried to explain why he should be nice to her. He wasn’t listening to anyone since he knew better than his stupid parents and the rest of his family.  Chuckling to himself at that time, he was so smart and everyone else was just trying to keep up with him. He used to think that he knew everything and would always be correcting people as they try to talk to him.

Remembering how his friends had gone their own way after they graduated from high school. He had heard rumors that some of his so-called friends were throwing victory parties on getting out of school in one piece. Hearing that parties were going on and no one was inviting him was the starting point of actually thinking that something was wrong with him and maybe whatever was wrong with him was the reason why he had a few friends. He had always thought he was right and everyone should listen to his way of thinking. That was what was wrong with his way of thinking, he wasn’t always right and the recent conversation was the starting point of his thinking deep thoughts of change.

He had been with a female for the night and she was acting like he wasn’t his Knight in Shining Armor. He was trying to kiss her and she kept moving her head slightly which would result in the kiss landing on her soft check.  His feeling for this female was starting to wan downward as the evening was coming to a disappointing end.

“Gloria, what is wrong with you and why on God’s green earth are you acting like this? I am trying to kiss you and you move your head to land the kiss on your check. Please explain to me what is going on?”

Seth sat there with folded arms and a look on his face that informed anyone that was close enough; this was not the time to ask any questions or favors. He sat there watching the lady in front of him getting comfortable as if this was going to take a long time answering. She cleared her throat a couple of times before looking up at him with a soft smile on her lips which in no way found its way to her soft blue eyes.

“Seth, I honestly don’t think this is going to work. You are the most self-centered man that I have ever had the unprivileged of meeting. You think everyone should follow your advice to the letter and you are the rudest man, person that I have ever met. The way you treat your parents who for some reason love you to all ends, is nothing short of being rude and childish. Do us both a favor and don’t call me ever again.” He sat in the restaurant thinking about what she had said to him and thought about how no one had the guts to ever talk to him like that before. No one had called him rude and childish before and he knew that if someone had called him that, he would just laugh at them straight into their faces. He had always been the smart one when he thought of them as dumb little children that he had to show them how everything was done.

He knew that he hadn’t treated his parents with respect and trust that they were due which probably explained why they didn’t have that much to do with him. They would invite him out to dinner and he would say he was busy at work, which most of the time he was busy with a lady friend. Throughout school, the Principal would call to say he had disrupted a class or on the field trip he played the part of Jokester. His teacher and his Principal felt sorry for his parents which they only tried to call when it was at wits end, nothing else would help than complaining to the parents who in this situation had no affect what so ever. The parents would try by lecturing, talking to him about the right way to act in school and how to treat other people with forgiveness and love. He would sit in the chair bored and tired of listening to them drone on about how he should act at school. How boring they were sounding about a topic he had heard several times before.

Recently, he had found himself treating his parents with respect that should have started a long time ago. He knew that his parents weren’t going to be there the rest of his life and when they gone his heart would missing them. There would be a gigantic hole in his life that no one else could feel. Thinking back a couple of weeks to the time that his mother called to invite him over to their house for a meal and he had surprised both of them plus including himself by saying that he would be there. In fact, he had been early by an half an hour and brought his mother’s favorite flowers. He had closed the evening off by giving his mother a kiss on the check and telling them how sorry he was for his treatment of them. They had stood there mere inches from him with tears in both of their eyes and hugged each other for the first time with love in their strengthen of their arms.

“Son, how we have waited to hear and feel your love from you, it is so overwhelming to know that your love has finally come through you to find its home in us. We love you, so much and have always loved you. We are, so proud of you and we always prayed that this day would come.” His dad paused to let his words sink in deep to his son’s heart where they would rest for the forever days to come. He continued softly by saying some simple words that had echoed throughout this house for centuries.

“I love you, my dearest son.”