Damaged

ALL PARENTS DAMAGE their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.

The damage of neglect. The damage of violence. The damage of silence. All parents damage their children. This was their life together. Neglect. Violence. Silence.

Through it all, despite it all, sons will always privately adore their old men, because sons will adore their fathers through even the worst behavior. It is how they learn devotion. before he can devote himself to God or a woman, a boy will devote himself to his father, even foolishly, even beyond explanation.

The damage done.

*************************************************

Excerpts taken & tweaked a bit from

"The Five People You Meet In Heaven" by Mitch Albom.