A Father’s Heart Strings

By Jim Hagarty

I had forgotten about this completely until recently when I ran into a man I worked with from 1980 to 1995 and he told me this story.

When one of his daughters was a teenager, she got bored with her guitar and decided to sell it to make some money. Her Dad knew she would regret it but didn’t want to interfere with her need to begin making decisions of her own.

So, he asked me if I would come to his house and buy her guitar. He gave me the money to make the purchase. I went there, bought the girl’s guitar from her and left.

Later, I returned it to the Dad.

Years went by, his daughter left home and sometimes he heard her reminisce about her old guitar. One year he wrapped it up and put it under the tree for Christmas. She was overjoyed to see it again.

Dads aren’t always the best listeners and can be stingy with the hugs and kisses and I love you’s, but we can be creative in finding our own ways to show how much we care.

Among all those ways, the nice thing my former co-worker did stands out.

Author: Jim Hagarty

I am a 72-year-old retired journalist, busy recovering from a lifelong career as an unretired journalist. This year marks a half century of my scratching out little fables about life. My interests include genealogy, humour and music. I live in a little blue shack in Canada and spend most of my time trying to stay out of trouble. I am not that good at it. I also spent years teaching journalism. Poor state of journalism today: My fault. I have a family I don't deserve, a dog that adores me, and two cars the junk yard refuses to accept. My prized possessions include my old guitar and a razor my Dad gave me when I was 14 and which I still use when I bother to shave. Oh, and my great-great-grandfather's blackthorn stick he brought from Ireland in the 1850s. I have only one opinion but it is a good one: People take too many showers.