My dear Liam,
This week, I have lived with you so much and shared so much. It was a beautiful, ordinary summer week, full of surprises. You had caught chicken pox and you couldn’t go to scout camp so you accompanied me to work. We hit the road together and travelled over 1200 km in 3 days. We made a business trip to Rouyn-Noranda. You even came with me to meetings and to the restaurant with colleagues. You behaved well, you were patient.
I remember accompanying my father in his work when I was your age… Now I understand so much the pleasure he had just to have me with him, to share with me a little bit of that daily work that fed us for years.
We made a life of hotels and restaurants. We ate too many ice creams but it doesn’t matter, we were together. We visited a gold mine. We went swimming in the pool. We even did 2 hours of mountain bike. I know you don’t like it that much, I know you do it a little bit for me and know I appreciate it. We’ve reached this point in our relationship, you’re starting to do things for me, you’re starting to understand what happiness is the pleasure of giving back smiles to others, especially the people we love. I love you, my son. I have never loved like this. There is nothing I wish more in my life than to see you grow up well.
Today we were still together. I am so lucky to finally have a flexible work schedule and I can afford to give you my time and presence. While you were playing this morning, I was doing some work in my office. We rode our bikes to the bookstore and relaxed a bit while we waited to go to the beach.
Some good friends invited us to join them for a dinner on the beach at Meech Lake . This is the kind of friends that we are starting to discover and that enrich us so much by their presence. As the meat was cooking on the grill, the sunset was slowly setting, the adults were talking and you were having fun in the water with your friend, you said “Come swim with us” and I went… You looked at me and you gave me such a big smile… I love that smile when you say “I love being with you Daddy!”…
We fought in the water and I realized once again how much you’ve grown and how strong you’ve become. It won’t be long before you’ll be the one who will have to take care of me… I know, it’s inevitable, time doesn’t stop.
While you were on my back trying to make me fall in the water, your arms embracing me, hugging me with all the strength of a young man, I could hear you laughing and you know what? I wish I could have stopped time…
I wish that this moment of pure happiness between a father and his son laughing in the cold water of a beach in the twilight of summer would never end…
I love you Liam and it is the greatest privilege of my life to be your father.
I love you Liam.
Original post Facebook, June 2019
Martin Pham Dinh 