08/24/2025
He asked the same question three times in five minutes—and I almost yelled at the man who once answered me twenty-seven times with a smile.
My father is eighty-three now. His steps are slower, his voice a little thinner, but his eyes are still sharp whenever he looks out at the world. That evening, we sat together on the old front porch of the house I grew up in. The wood creaked beneath the rocking chairs, and the air smelled faintly of cut grass and summer heat.
Then it happened. A bright flash of color on the fence post—
a bluebird.
“What’s that, son?” my father asked softly.
“A bluebird, Dad,” I answered, almost without looking up from my phone.
A few seconds of silence.
“What’s that bird, son?” he asked again.
I sighed, a little louder this time. “I told you already. It’s a bluebird.”
The rocking of his chair slowed. The air between us felt heavier than the humid evening.
And then, the third time:
“What’s that bird on the fence, son?”
Something inside me snapped.
“It’s a bluebird! How many times do I have to say it?”
The words came out sharper than I intended, like broken glass tossed across the porch.
My father didn’t argue. He didn’t even look at me. He stood slowly, gripping the wooden rail for balance, and disappeared inside the house. I sat there, angry at myself, but too proud to call after him.
Minutes later, he returned—holding a worn leather notebook, its corners bent, its pages yellowed with time. He placed it in my hands without a word.
“Read,” he said quietly.
I opened it, and my throat tightened as I saw his handwriting—steady, younger, filled with the energy of a man raising a little boy.
“Today I sat on the porch with my three-year-old son. A bluebird landed on the fence. He asked me twenty-seven times: ‘Daddy, what’s that?’ And every time, I answered with a smile: ‘That’s a bluebird, buddy.’ Each time I kissed his head, ran my hand through his hair, and thanked God for his endless curiosity. It was a perfect day.”
My hands trembled as I read those lines. The porch blurred in front of me, not because of the dusk but because of the tears I could no longer hold back.
That day was me. I was the little boy asking again and again. And he had answered, again and again, with love.
Now the roles were reversed. He was the one asking. And I was the one who had grown impatient.
I closed the notebook and looked at him. His hands rested quietly on his knees, his eyes back on the bird that was still perched on the fence. Not once had he lost patience with me. Not once had he raised his voice. Not once had he treated my curiosity as a burden.
And yet, I had treated his aging memory as an inconvenience.
It hit me harder than any lesson school or life had ever taught.
We forget that our parents once carried us through every question, every tantrum, every sleepless night with patience we can barely imagine. They don’t want money. They don’t need fancy gifts. When they grow old, all they want is time. A gentle word. A patient answer. A little bit of the love they gave us without measure.
Because one day, we will sit in that rocking chair.
We will ask the same questions, over and over.
And we will pray someone answers us—
not with anger, not with frustration—
but with the same love that raised us.
That is the circle of life, the circle of love, and the only legacy worth leaving.
