Every year at this month, I remember my conversation with my late father. He told me a true story about himself as a little boy. He was born in 1903 and his father passed away from an over-enlarged heart in 1904. His mother was only 14 when she was married. She had three daughters and then a son, my father. His young and very attractive looking mother remarried shortly after his passing.
My father was raised by a new father who had a very serious personality. He never joked, never laughed and was always very sarcastic.
One day my father was to a country picnic. There were many little children his age running around. This one little friend hung around the pant leg of his father and kept hiding behind him. This father ruffled the little son's hair, pinched his ear, patted him on his shoulder and kept playing with the little boy. My father stood there and said, "how I wish someone would ruffle my hair, or pinch me or pull on my ear, just anything to include me in the fun of laughter." As he was telling me this, his tears rolled down his cheeks.
One day, I met a young man I had not seen for ages. I asked if he was married by now. He answered, "No, I am not, but I am a step-daddy for a seven-year-old boy." I immediately told him my father's true life story. He made a quick remark saying, "Believe it or not, that's just what I do and how I play with my little stepson."
Maybe by reading this, many a young man will make a little step-son's life much happier.
