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The Board Meeting had come to an end. Bob started to stand up and jostled
the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. "How embarrassing. I am getting
so clumsy in my old age."
Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most
embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank who sat quietly listening to the
others. Someone said, "Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing
moment."
Frank laughed and began to tell us of his childhood. "I grew up in San
Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it
was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he
caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for
his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home."
He looked at us and said, "I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big
man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his
catch. When you got close to him, he smelled like the ocean. He would wear his
old canvas, foul-weather coat and his bibbed overalls. His rain hat would be
pulled down over his brow. No matter how much my Mother washed them, they would
still smell of the sea and of fish."
Frank's voice dropped a bit. "When the weather was bad he would drive me to
school. He had this old truck that he used in his fishing business. That truck
was older than he was. It would wheeze and rattle down the road. You could hear
it coming for blocks. As he would drive toward the school,I would shrink down
into the seat hoping to disappear. Half the time, he would slam to a stop and
the old truck would belch a cloud of smoke. He would pull right up in front, and
it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would
lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It
was so embarrassing for me. Here, I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean
over and kiss me goodbye!"
He paused and then went on, "I remember the day I decided I was too old for
a goodbye kiss. When we got to the school and came to a stop, he had his usual
big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, 'No,
Dad.'
It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this
surprised look on his face.
I said, 'Dad, I'm too old for a goodbye kiss. I'm too old for any kind of
kiss.'
My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up.
I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked out the windshield. 'You're
right,' he said. 'You are a big boy....a man. I won't kiss you anymore.'"
Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his
eyes, as he spoke. "It wasn't long after that when my Dad went to sea and never
came back. It was a day when most of the fleet stayed in, but not Dad. He had a
big family to feed. They found his boat adrift with its nets half in and half
out. He must have gotten into a gale and was trying to save the nets and the
floats."
I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank
spoke again. "Guys, you don't know what I would give to have my Dad give me just
one more kiss on the cheek....to feel his rough old face....to smell the ocean
on him....to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had
been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a goodbye
kiss." |
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发表于 2016-7-10 11:30:13