Happy Pops Day

Troughout my life I have met a lot of people who tell me I have had an easy life. Some say it with envy, others say it like I just lost some contest, and I will have to admit that it is true. I don’t think anybody’s life really is easy, but what I think brings about these comments is the fact that all my faults and troubles are pretty much self-inflicted. I can’t blame anything on my parents. I would like to thank them, and especially my dad, today.

On my first New Years in Chile, while I was on my mission, it was our turn for my comp and I to go to the office downtown and pick up everyone’s mail etc. Most of the trip is spent on the subway. We were the only ones on the train, and when we got to street level we found the usually very noisy and crowded Santiago to be empty. New Years fell on a Monday, and being the prolific wine drinkers that they are, the Chileans had spent that Sunday night doing just that. So while the city slept their holiday away, we walked the empty streets of Santiago. I got a picture of me standing in the middle of an empty Pedro de Valdivia, a street that is usually bumper to bumper with busses, taxis, and collectivos.

When we got back to our train I started opening my mail. I found a letter from my dad and started reading it. He told me about how he had been able to come home for Christmas one year when he was in Vietnam, when he didn’t think he was going to be able to, and how he surprised his family. I knew that he had felt just as lonely as me once, as I sat on an empty train during the holidays in a place where a hundred degree heat brought in the new year instead of a white snow. That was the most powerful letter I ever read. I knew he missed me, and more importantly I knew he was proud of me, although those words didn’t appear on the paper anywhere.

I read it again.

While I was growing up, he always wanted to make sure I was ahead of the game. For example, I got the birds and the bees talk a good year and half before most of the kids in my school. That way when it was time for all the kids in my grade to go the famous ‘Maturation Program,’ it was old news for me. I think today I am ahead of the game in a lot of ways. I know my dad had fun as a kid, and I was allowed the same privilege. I never needed to worry about getting what I needed (and I got a good portion of things I wanted) and that freed me up to be a kid, have fun, and make choices for myself. Because of how I was raised I was able to discover, amidst the ups and downs, what life was supposed to feel like, and now I know what I am looking for. How many people can say that?

Thanks Dad. I appreciate it.