My father is moving to East Lansing after living in the
Chicago area for the last 39 years. He was born and raised in Ecorse, a suburb
of Detroit, married, had kids and got divorced, all in the same metro area. The
only time he lived away from Detroit, up to the age of 42, was while he was in
the army back in the 50’s. Detroit is my fathers’ hometown.
He
moved to the Chicago area in ’74, started a new career and did relatively well
while working towards retirement. During the years in Illinois, he lived in
some very nice places, made a number of friends, ate in the finest restaurants
and traveled the world. All in all, not a bad gig for a guy with no formal
education in an industry that, though flourishing at the time, was rather
frowned on by society. Honestly, he was afforded to live a life far beyond his,
or anyone’s with his background, expectations.
So
now Dad’s moving home. I can’t help but wonder what’s going through his head.
He’s 81 years old and not in the best of health. He’s coming back to a place
where professional success eluded him, a place, he said a number of times, that
he never wanted to return to. He’s also returning to a place that three of his
four children, three of his grandchildren and a great granddaughter live. Even
though he never really paid much attention to any of them over the years, it’s
still gotta give him some level of comfort just having them around.
I
really believe, in his head, he knows he’s basically coming home to die. He
started it here, he’ll finish it here. It kinda makes sense for the kind of guy
he is. Never allowing anyone to get too close and incredibly unattached
emotionally to all around him. Coming home, I think he realizes that even
though he wasn’t around for the family he desperately needs now; we’ll rally
around and make sure he isn’t alone in his final years. I don’t believe any of
us will be there because we’re crazy about the guy, that’s a whole other story,
it’s just another example of doing the right thing. I can’t help that whenever
I think about this I hear the song, “The Circle Of Life” in my head. He’s
coming full circle, he’s allowed that journey. How could it possibly be a bad
thing to help him along to the finish line?
