Over at Gamers With Jobs, Julian âRabbitâ Murdoch has shared a personal essay that is as lovely as it is sad. Itâs titled âYes, Dad.â In it, Murdoch talks about visiting the hospital to see his sick father, and the different ways that the two of them remembered his childhood.
When I turned 10, two things happened that changed my life. The first was Paul getting an Atari 2600. The second was seeing Star Wars for the first time, alone with Paul, because my Dad didnât want to see it. He was a pacifist, and it had âwarâ in the title. From that point on, I was as nerd as nerd could be.
âSo, Iâve got all this stuff I just donât know what to do with.â He pauses for breath. He has congestive heart failure and a dozen other issues that make it very hard for him to focus for more than a few minutes. It hurts to see him struggling. I well up again. âI have some great horns. I have one of your grandfatherâs horns, he bought it when he was a kid. Itâs so good. I hate to sell it.â
âIâd love to take it, Dad. Iâm sure Peter will want it as he grows up. He seems drawn to music.â
Weâve been making these exchanges for the past two years. He shows up with something âheâd hate to sellâ and I dutifully put it in the basement. He walks away feeling like a patriarch, instead of the odd, strange man heâs become.
âI remember you werenât really much into music growing up,â he forgets.
I was desperate for music.
Aah, heck. You donât need a bunch of boilerplate from me telling you why itâs a special piece of writing. Just go check it out.
Yes, Dad. [Gamers With Jobs]
(Top photo credit Flashgun | /Shutterstock)
You can contact Kirk Hamilton, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.
