Father’s footsteps taught me a lot of great things, but I never really approached
them the right way. Relationship between a father and a son is very adverse. Father
never born as a father. A Father had already lived a life as son but most of sons never
realize it until they become father. The three admirable readings that represent the notion
of son becoming the father and appreciating the teaching of father that he had taught
throughout his entire life are, “Once More to the Lake” by E. B. White, “Notes from a
Son to his Father” by Russel C. Leong and the Article “Following in father’s footsteps”
by Farnk Albert. Father never changed but I have realized that his drudgery had opened
my eyes and influenced me to realize that after all these years arguing with him, I am
utterly like my father now.
The time, most of sons began to get to know this world through their own vision
is exactly the time most of sons start thinking that there father is vexatious. Rusell C.
Leong, in Notes from a Son to his Father states, “There is nothing good about being a
son. I know; I am a son”(94). I can dexterously collate it to my personal life experience.
The day my father left India September 30, 1993 to come to USA, I was only one year
old. Rose by mother with so much love, never realized how it would be to live with
father. Fourteen years have been passed and the only way I knew dad was through his
voice on phone and through his pictures that he sent to India every year. After fifteen
years, he finally became U.S citizen and went to India to see his family. The gap between
son and father was enormous and we never really knew each other narrowly. Russell C.
Leong, in Notes from a Son to his Father, points out, “I have never been lifted on his
hand, brought up to see any life outside of my own. As a child I dreamed of my
father”(95). My father anticipates that his son will be exactly the way he wanted but the
time has changed everything. His son was not the way he expected to be. He wanted his
to learn the real life but I did not know what he meant by real life. Most of the time my
father betray my mother for not teaching me the real life to succeed in future.
Every time, my father and me had conversation it was exasperating. Rusell C.
Leong, in Notes from a Son to his Father, writes, “My father’s hand were always busy
preparing food and papers, writing and touching inanimate and ultimately useful things
such as pencils and knives “(95). My father was always engrossed in reading books,
newspaper and preparing food sometime, when he does not like the way my mom made
food. Extremely busy in his own life, he had no time for to explain what real life means
according to him. But one day, I decided to talk to him very calmly and find out what he
meant by real life.
Early morning, the birds were chirping and as the loud sound of speaker from
church that act as alarm for my father woke him up. Lying down in my bed, I could hear
my dad brushing his teeth. And as he went to restroom, I got up and brush my teeth. The
sweet sounds of birds and the wonderful scene of sun rising made me feel like I should
get up early everyday. As my dad finished taking shower and got ready to go for walk, I
also got ready. My dad was so astonished to see me getting up that early. I asked him
very politely, “Dad, Can I go to walk with you today?” He looked at me and very curtly
he replied, “Yea, I guess. It’s probably you need something from me now”. I simply
chose to stay quiet and went on walk with him.
As we started walking on the road I asked my dad, “Dad, I’m not here to give you
hard time today. I’m sorry if everything that I been doing in my life doesn’t fulfill the
requirements of the definition of real life but I just want to know what do you mean by
real life though?” I bliss inside him, I clearly saw by the smile on his face. He didn’t
reply anything for five minutes. The chirping of birds and loud sound of speakers from
church even grew more stronger as I was waiting to hear the words that my father was
about to say to me. He replied in very sweet voice, “Vikas, Long story short. I started
working when I was eight years old and sold peanuts, sweets in streets and learned how
to cook from your aunt and made my way to U.S.A. From that day only thing I did is
work hard as labor and I’m 42 and still working. I don’t want you to have same life. I
want you to become something in your life, so you never have to work as labor”. For one
second, I thought I were having a dream but it was really him in front me explaining me
all those things.
After explaining me all those things we came back home together. The sweet
smell of homemade tea was telling dad and me that mom is already up. She was so happy
to see us together. It was the exact same day he has to leave India to come back to U.S.A.
As the sun went down and starts came up, I realized it is the time to say goodbye to dad
now until the next time we will see each other. He left home and everything around the
house seems so unhappy. As I was about to have dinner, I found myself thinking about
my dad having dinner with me a night before that. I went to sleep thinking about him.
The very next morning, I got up early and went to walk by myself. Everything
was the same; the orange sky as sun was rising and the sweet smell from jasmine flowers
but the only thing I was missing was my dad. But I kept on thinking what he said to the
morning before that. As I was thinking about him and what he said, I could clearly see his
face in front of my eyes. As E. B. White, in Once More to the Lake, records that, “It gave
me a creepy sensation”(157). It really gave me very creepy sensation that he was with
me, explaining me those things over again but when I looked around there were no one
on the road except me. I kept on thinking about those things that he told me even at
school too. A week passed and I realized that I am really very focused on my studies
now.
I started doing well at school. My father realized that I started working hard. After
two years he called me to come to U.S.A. So, I can go to sophisticated school and make
my life. I finished my high school and headed to University of Massachusetts Boston for
higher studies. Life changed a lot after high school. My father wanted me to learn more
about life so he wanted me to live by myself during college. As Farnk Absher, in
Following in father’s footsteps, says, “Bob was no strange to radio. He’d been hear on the
air since he was 15, performing, announcing and occasionally bringing as part of his
father’s effort to keep personnel cost to a minimum”. Since my dad is a experienced chef
so my life revolved around great food and I learned how to make them during my high
school years. I can say that, I found a lot of qualities that I have today most of them are
very similar to my father’s.
Now that I live by myself, I realized how my father always helped me on every
step of my life to make the right choice. Russel C. Leong, in Notes from a Son to his
Father, reports, “And yet I usually find myself talking about my father, telling my friends
and any strangers what he does, where he has been, trying to describe with exactness his
activities, trying to grasp his life through what little information I have of him”(94). I
always tell all my relatives and friends now that how hard my father worked in his life
and how he made his dream come true in his life. But the interesting story is throughout
my whole entire life, I only lived with my dad for two years. To me, my father is a library
where a person can gather great information and make their life and me; I am just a book
in that library. I hope after college, I get to live with my father again and can learn more
from him.
Work Cited

Leong, Russell. NOTES FROM A SON TO HIS FATHER.

White, E. Once More to the Lake.

Absher, Frank. “Following in father’s footsteps. (Radio History).” St. Louis
Journalism Review 32.250 (2002): 13. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.