Just A Few More Fatherly Comments

"Dad," he said to me over the phone, "have you eaten, yet?"

I know how I get when I get hungry. Tone gets serious. Volume goes up. Words start coming out faster. And I start to get aggressive. So yes, I knew what he was talking about. But I wasn't hungry.

The going to college in the fall thing is working on me in ways I hadn't expected. The years we've had don't seem like quite enough, now. There are just a few more things I need to share. Just a few more fatherly comments...

He sits at the computer all afternoon as the phone calls he needs to make go unmade. Just a few more fatherly comments.

He goes passive-aggressively silent when I ask if he's getting a graduation card for a friend who's inviting him to a party on the beach. Just a few more fatherly comments.

It will be past mid-June before he begins to make progress on volunteer work we talked about in lieu of a summer job. Just a few more fatherly comments.

He... I... It... They... We... Why... You... Just a few more fatherly comments.

"No, I'm not hungry, Ben. I just have so many things I want to say to you, and this last summer is already slipping away."

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