Category Archives: Culture

My morning commutes are usually quick, rushed affairs*. By morning, I mean early morning (well, earlier than the average college student or 9-to-5′er anyway). Most city educators wake up at dawn, leave early, and clock in before 8 a.m. We must battle traffic regardless of the method used. However, I like to take in the bustling scenery around me because the city is an interesting place with interesting people and innumerable untold stories. So I leave a little earlier if I can help it. Today, I did and surreptitiously watched two heartwarming scenes as I passed by and it made me realize all the unacknowledged sacrifices parents make for their children, in the simplest of ways.

The first father appeared relatively youthful, in his late 20′s. He stood beside the yellow school bus and watched carefully as his elementary school-aged son boarded, walked down the row and sat in a seat. He instinctively moved parallel to the boy, waved with a smile on his face, and mouthed, “I love you, son!” The boy struggled with the window, cracked it open a couple of inches and replied happily, “I love you, Dad!”

The second father was older with graying hair and a slightly older child, possibly in the 6th grade. He held a small Spiderman backpack with one hand and used the other to guide his son along. The boy wore a thick black cast and boot around his left leg and struggled on the wet sidewalk with a pair of crutches. They talked animatedly back and forth. Their laughter echoed across the school yard.

These little moments matter. They help create lasting impressions, life-long childhood recollections. These fathers cared about their sons and readily expressed concern, love, and affection for them in public, and in doing so, taught them valuable life lessons about what it means to be respectable, caring parents.

*Sorry for the lack of pictures this time around. It’s difficult to snap photos when in a rush and running late for one’s train!