1/02/2009

Unspoken Messages

What signs did your lost one leave behind?

Maybe it's dads. Maybe it's men in general (sorry guys). Certainly it was true with my dad: few words spoken.

Not that he couldn't talk a lot. In fact, with dad, 2,000% more after the head injury he sustained in 1984. A head-on collision with an 18-wheeler and dad's Nissan Sentra did it. Thank God for the firewall on that Sentra! The car's engine was reduced to about 16" but the firewall kept it from coming into the car and unto dad's lap.

The jolt bruised dad's brain (the right side), resulting in having to put a shunt in to drain off the fluid that was collecting. Dad lived with a little dent in his head from that day forward.

That and the ability to talk and talk and talk. But mostly to non-family people. He could chat with the best of them. And yet, with family, he remained a man of extraordinarily few words.

Mostly gestures.

When he as angry, he would sit with his coat on in the house 24/7. When he was sad, he went to his room and lay on the bed, sulking.

Talking about how he felt about his children...well, that was a whole other thing. Then dad remained relatively quiet.

So imagine my amazement when we went to the bedroom where my dad last lived. There, on the window sill, were 3 clay art projects that my brothers and I did when we were in...ohhh...1st or 2nd grade.

Who knew that they still existed? Yet there they were. Right above his bed.

Who needs words?

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