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The Huge Hands, the Tall Figure and the Big Steps
“Come on, son! We’ve got to catch the first bus.” my dad urged me. After spending the spring festival with the family, he decided to take me along to the hydro-power station where he worked. With these words, he took my little hand and walked towards the station.
I was only 6 years of age, if I remember correctly, and the manner he whisked me away is still so fresh in my mind, especially his hands, which were unusually large in the eyes of a little boy. He was so big and so tall that I had to look up whenever I wanted to talk with him.
I was practically running alongside with my little legs and feet, but it seemed that I would never keep up with him. He took slow steps, but they were all big ones. I had to increase my frequency of moving my legs again and again.
“Daddy, I’m tired. I can’t walk any further. Shall we…?” I begged before long.
“OK. Just climb onto my back, and I’ll carry you.” He said, crouching down in front of me. How nice to be on his back! “Hold me tight, son, around my neck, for I have to carry the suitcase with the other hand.” It was so warm close against his back.
Fast forward to the 21st century, walking on the street in Shanghai, on the way to a chest hospital, I tried to support him by taking his hand, but he said, “No, thanks. I think I can walk myself.” I walked beside him slowly, as much as possible.
However, before I knew it, when I turned to speak to him, I found that he was left far behind, a little bent sideways with his right hand pressing against his chest. I came to know that it was a struggle for him to walk even such a short distance. The cancer cells were maliciously spreading to the neighboring organs, causing pains 24 hours a day!
Seeing him suffering makes me suffer, too. He once said in a low depressed voice, “I’m actually deprived of the basic rights of living.” In the face of adversity of this kind, we humans look so impotent and helpless. Even modern technology, so omnipotent it appears, can not do anything about it so far. Only then did I realize that it was time for us children to take the responsibility to take care of our parents. We will all age, and will have to go also at one time or another. But now is the time for us to return the care and love.
When we were little, we all admired our daddy so much, for he could do almost everything and knew so much about this world. When we were teenagers, we began to realize that the great daddy was not so great at all, and there were actually many things he couldn’t do or didn’t know about. Sometimes we even tried to challenge his authority and secretly had a sense of contempt. Only when we are fathers ourselves do we truly understand how great our daddies are, no matter how common he is or how seemingly uneventful his life is!
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Post comment Comment (7 replies)
- Reply sunnyv
- What a touching story. I wonder how you learnt to write so well. Any normal person would shed tears while reading your story. You are indeed a wonderful writer. Reminds me of the days when my father took me to primary school to register me as a pupil and later he got very sick with diabetes and old age complications. I regret not caring for him enough and now he is gone. We could never understand our parents when we were young. I urge everyone to take good care of your parents while you can to avoid regrets later in life. Thanks for the touching story.
- Reply lushanshan9010
- this fantastic story also acts as a reminder of my father , one year ago a cancer suffer . now casting my mind back on those days when my dad had that all-stamach-cut operation , on hearing this nightmare-like news , like a bolt in the blue sky . i was almost close to despair , with tearing pouring down my face . i pray god that hope everything is fine with him and dont take him away from me . to my great delight , he gets a quick recovery . here i wish that every father stays in shape .
- Reply rich
- sunnyv: What a touching story. I wonder how you learnt to write so well. Any normal person would shed tears while reading your story. You are indeed a wonderfThank you for the compliments. i just wrote down how i felt and what i thought. as we grow up, we understand deeper of everything around us. i didn't have much contact with my dad when i was young, for he mostly worked away from home. now that he is old and sick, i often think of the past experiences with him. some of the scenes just pop up. all sorts of feelings well up seeing how a robust person became weaker and weaker after years and years of hard work.
i'm very very sorry to hear that your dad died of sickness. maybe we cannot avoid getting old and going in the end, but we can do our best to make the life of our parents as happy as possible, at least worth living if he/she is ill. have a good evening, my dear friend!
- Reply rich
- lushanshan9010: this fantastic story also acts as a reminder of my father , one year ago a cancer suffer . now casting my mind back on those days when my dad had thati feel warm while reading your words. i'm so glad to know that your dad finally got a quick recovery after the operation. i guess it was at the early stage of the disease. at the same time i'm kind of curious, with his stomach cut, how does he manage to eat and get the nutrition he needs? can he eat in a normal way? anyway i'm as delighted as you were that he pulled through in the end.
- Reply bluebird
- The most beautiful things are hidden in our daily plain life. I also experienced catching a factory bus at winter dawns with me on my mama's warm back.
- Reply rich
- bluebird: The most beautiful things are hidden in our daily plain life. I also experienced catching a factory bus at winter dawns with me on my mama's warm backyes i agree. life itself doesn't lack beauty, what we lack is a pair of sharp eyes, as the famous saying goes. l'll try to look more on the bight side of life, facing the reality with a smile.
- Reply lushanshan9010
- rich: i feel warm while reading your words. i'm so glad to know that your dad finally got a quick recovery after the operation. i guess it was at the earlydue to my little schooling in english , i suppose , it is hard for me to get this matter clear , but still there is a way out , you may consult baidu or google , and you will come to know what you had wondered . now no difference between him and a normal person if you dont know the history behind him . however , all i say is , whether a person can have a quick recovery from disease or operation has much to do with his will power and the spirits striking to be alive . that is it .
