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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: fathers (06/06/05)
The 1982 inscribed leather bound calendar stared back blankly at the young man seated at the desk. This un-welcomed intruder from the past had arrived in the early morning mail. Included was a handwritten note from his mother saying that she had finally gotten an opportunity to go through some of dad’s things and thought that he might be interested and so she sent it along. Running the letter opener from end to end the enveloped contents seized his unwillingly heart and mind and transported them back in time.

It was his father's journal. The beautifully leathered bound calendar was dark brown in color. The edges of the pages gave the appearance of being trimmed in gold and shimmered beautifully in the light. The journal was certainly uncharacteristic of the owner the young man thought.

His father had an unglamorous and mundane job of being a salesman for a third-rate cleaning product company. His assigned sales area encompassed all of Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. His work required that he be away from home for days at a time. And when he was home it seemed that his spare time was taken up by the required expense and sales reports exacted by the company.

In that moment of time missed baseball games, birthdays, school performances, and a myriad of other lost opportunities with a traveling salesman father were resurrected. Angrily, he picked up the book and began to examine the cover and observed that even his father's personal journal had been neglected as it gave the appearance of being new.

Bolstered by the justifiable anger in his heart he boldly opened the journal. Inscribed from his mother to her husband and underneath her signature and the year 1984 she had written, "Honey, this journal goes with much love. I hope you are able to achieve your dreams and hopes -- I know you will!"

His heart sank. He ventured forth and began to thumb through the pages. To his amazement there were over 300 entries. Upon reading he became acquainted with a man who up unto that point was a stranger. Over and over again the demands of the sales job were evidenced as frustrated written expressions of not being with his family were penned. However, immediately following were words of gratefulness to God for a steady job in support of his wonderful family. Also captured were his father's regrets on missing key events in his family's life and his prayers for blessing upon them. He also prayed that his family would sense his presence and warm embrace during those special times.

Gently closing the journal the young man sat in silence. Words never spoken were spoken, feelings never expressed were expressed, and walls that separated came crashing down. A father’s difficult journey had reached the fulfilling destination of his son’s heart and a son was at peace.
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This article has been read 831 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Lynda Lee Schab 
06/13/05
It's sad how we often let anger fester inside. You described a very real emotion a person might toward his father for not being there for him when he was younger. The journal was a clever way to help him understand his father's heart. I wish you would have included an actual journal entry, to make it more personal and connect him to your reader a bit more. I found it slightly difficult to believe that if the father had an obvious relationship with God, it wouldn't be evident at all to his son during those years, resulting in him finding out in his journal. But in life, I guess anything is possible.:-) Great effort. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Blessings, Lynda
Christine Rhee
06/14/05
This is a really good concept. Do you think that, in the part when you were describing the contents of the journal, it may have been effective to "show" this by quoting some of the actual phrases from it? Just a thought...
Shari Armstrong 
06/15/05
A nice story of how we don't always know people as well as we think we do -and healing is always possible!
Jeffery Shaver
06/17/05
A captivating story, that left me asking a few questions: Why was the 1982 calendar dedicated in 1984? Did he count the 300+ entries or is that a statement by the omniscient writer? The inscription was grammatically odd; was that intentional? Starting a sentence with "And" can be permissible in certain contexts; was that intentional? Once again, very enjoyable. Write on!