“Whatcha looking at dad?” asked Fritz as I stood out on the balcony just before bedtime last night.
“My corner of the world son. Come out here and tell me what you see Fritz?”
It was still relatively comfortable enough to stand outside at eleven o’clock and get some fresh air.
“I see the buildings and the sky and I see Christmas stuff dad.”
I had Fritz stand next to me and take a couple deep breaths.
“The same stuff dad, can I go back inside now?”
I wasn’t going to let him off the hook so easy. I put my hand on the nape of his neck and pointed at the little Christmas tree in the window across the street. He was looking at a Christmas tree, but what was really there was a beacon of hope glowing out on the street.
We looked up at the cloudy December sky. The clouds reflected the urban lights and blocked out the cosmos. We couldn’t see through the blanket, but we knew the stars and moon are still there.
I pointed to the two courtyard buildings across the street. Those apartment buildings were built just after World War One. A hundred years of people called all those apartments home at one time in their life. Fritz just wanted to go back inside at this point. I made him breath in life one more time and I said, “someday you’ll see it Fritz and not just look at it…..”
I tucked Fritz into bed and he asked if I was getting a Sunday paper, he wants the funny papers if I do. I asked him if he just looks at the comics or if he sees them? He smiled and said, “I love you dad, you can go now.”
I closed his door and cleaned up the kitchen so it’s ready for tomorrow’s breakfast rush. I wrote down today’s quote on an envelope sitting on the dining room table. Someday when the kids are older and they scroll across all the chalkboards, this one will stick out to Fritz.
Sunrise, sunset…. swiftly flow the years….
