Turning the Tables

I went out and bought a gift for my father today. Someone who's quietly been suffering from depression due to outside influences in his life. Someone who does everything quietly, and while he doesn't show emotion or ask anything of anyone, it's obvious he misses a close connection with his sons. He used to play music. That was his outlet. It used to energize and calm. Listening to it, playing it, talking about it with his sons was what lit his fire.

Anyway, he selflessly let me borrow his car this week, one in a series of many recent supportive gestures as I rebuild my own life. I sat in the car and noticed he didn't have a single CD in it. I turned on the radio to hear it was on talk radio. It made me sad. Where was his music?

Heading to work, I tossed a CD I had with me into the player only to hear that the last person he lent his car to, had completely blown his speakers out. Seriously, obliterated them to the point where music was unlistenable. Talk radio was the only thing he had. He took the CDs out so he wouldn't get upset each time he needed to feel that energy and couldn't.

Now, I've also got some blown speakers in my own car from a previous owner that I've been dying to remedy for months, but couldn't throw the money into it. He hasn't had the money either. But instead of making my life better, I went out and bought him some high end speakers for his car as a thank you.

Took them back to his place, and started tearing the doors off the car to install them without mentioning it. He noticed I was outside with tools ripping his car apart. He came out, and his face lit up when he saw what I was doing. Here I was, laying down under his car, getting my hands dirty, and my father sat there handing me tools in maybe the first bonding, car repair, dirt-under-the-nails experience we've had like that since I was a teenager.

I haven't seen him this happy in years. We finished the install long after dark, probably close to midnight, and he had to work in the morning. I handed him a stack of CDs of mine that I knew he wanted to hear, said, "here, keep these in there for a while. You're empty."

He wasn't tired from the work. Instead we drove out to fill the gas tank, drive through the car wash and listen to some music. He went to bed really happy tonight.

I will too.