My dad said, “He just got out. That’s a program for ex-cons. He probably doesn’t know how to act yet.”
I could see the thought working on him.
My dad walked out and returned a few minutes later. His had face softened. He’d caught up w the man and told him he’d been in prison too and that he had no hard feelings.
My dad gave him our phone number and they planned to have lunch.
That’s the kind of man he was. Always looking for the good.
We both carried a wound. I'd lived in an orphanage as a child, he hardly knew his dad & was raised by a single mom hotel maid.
There was never a pressure, never anything expected except that I be honest, that I work hard.
I can still hear his voice in my head. Even now.