The Kite without a thread

Once a father and son went to the kite flying festival. The young son became very
happy seeing the sky filled with colorful kites. He too asked his father to get him a
kite and a thread with a roller so he can fly a kite too. So, the father went to the shop
at the park where the festival was being held. He purchased kites and a roll of thread
for his son.

His son started to fly a kite.  Soon, his kite reached high up in the sky.  After a while,
the son said, “Father, It seems that the thread is holding up a kite from flying higher,
If we break it, It will be free and will go flying even higher.  Can we break it?”  So, the
father cut the thread from a roller.  The kite started to go a little higher.  That made a
son very happy.

But then, slowly, the kite started to come down. And, soon it fell down on the terrace
of the unknown building. The young son was surprised to see this. He had cut the
kite loose of its thread so it can fly higher, but instead, it fell down. He asked his
father, “Father, I thought that after cutting off the thread, the kite can freely fly higher.
But why did it fall down?”
The Father explained, “Son, At the height of life that we live in, we often think that
some things we are tied with and they are preventing us from going further higher.
The thread was not holding the kite from going higher, but it was helping it stay
higher when the wind slowed down and when the wind picked up, you helped the
kite go up higher in a proper direction through the thread.  And when we cut the
thread, it fell down without the support you were providing to the kite through the
thread”.

Evening Dinner with a Father

A son took his old father to a restaurant for an evening dinner.  Father being very old
and weak, while eating, dropped food on his shirt and trousers.  Other diners
watched him in disgust while his son was calm.

After he finished eating, his son who was not at all embarrassed, quietly took him to
the washroom, wiped the food particles, removed the stains, combed his hair and
fitted his spectacles firmly.  When they came out, the entire restaurant was watching
them in dead silence, not able to grasp how someone could embarrass themselves
publicly like that.  The son settled the bill and started walking out with his father.

At that time, an old man amongst the diners called out to the son and asked him,
“Don’t you think you have left something behind?”.

The son replied, “No sir, I haven’t”.

The old man retorted, “Yes, you have!  You left a lesson for every son and hope for
every father”.

The restaurant went silent.

The Wooden Bowl
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.
The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The
family ate together at the table.  But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing
sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped
the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.
The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. “We must do
something about father,” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy
eating, and food on the floor.”  So the husband and wife set a small table in the
corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.
Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl!
When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his
eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp
admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.
The four-year-old watched it all in silence.
One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on
the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?”  Just as sweetly, the
boy responded, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in
when I grow up.” The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.
The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to
stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be
done.
That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the
family table. For the remainder of his day, he ate every meal with the family. And for
some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was
dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Five More Minutes

While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a
playground.  “That’s my son over there,” she said, pointing to a little boy in a red
sweater who was gliding down the slide.  “He’s a fine looking boy”, the man said.
“That’s my daughter on the bike in the white dress.”
Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter. “What do you say we go,
Melissa?”  Melissa pleaded, “Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more
minutes.”  The man nodded and Melissa continued to ride her bike to her heart’s
content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his daughter. “Time
to go now?”
Again Melissa pleaded, “Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes.”  The man
smiled and said, “OK.”  “My, you certainly are a patient father,” the woman
responded.
The man smiled and then said, “Her older brother Tommy was killed by a drunk
driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never spent much time with
Tommy and now I’d give anything for just five more minutes with him. I’ve vowed not
to make the same mistake with Melissa.  She thinks she has five more minutes to
ride her bike. The truth is, I get Five more minutes to watch her play.”