I'm just recently back from a lovely week at my dad's cabin up north, a week of fishing, reading, and gin and tonics. Today, I'm going back. This time, though, it'll just be me and my dad.
He bought the place maybe 8 years ago, and has put a lot of time into making improvements (hooking up water and electricity were the big ones). But he seems to spend most of his time up there alone. His tween-aged kids aren't crazy about the place, and my step-mom gets there maybe once a year. I talked to him a couple days ago when he was home alone between his usual duties as chef and chauffeur, and he sounded just plain lonely.
He's a kind of solitary person, like me, and I get the sense that he's increasingly afraid of getting old and dying. It's not something his second family can really relate to (my step-mom's in her early 40s), but I feel like I might have some insight into what he's feeling.
So we'll go up north, do some fishing, maybe install a new screen door, probably drink too much, and maybe continue to become friends. It's good for me, too.
3 comments:
Sounds awfully peaceful to me! Have a great bonding time with your dad.
You know ... mortality is not something to be taken lightly ... it's so much to assimilate if you try to push it down for a long time.
boy, that sounds nice. i'm heading up to bar harbor with my 19 year old son this weekend, we used to go up there, camping in acadia, every summer. have not gone for several years, and this trip will not be camping, and won't involve mountain climbing, but i'm so looking forward to the time with him before he heads back to school in scotland. those are relationship-building times that cannot be replicated. have a great time with the old man.
Post a Comment