Fui un lingote de oro para Papá//I was a bar of gold for Dad

Faltan dos domingos del mes de junio para que en Venezuela celebremos el día del Padre, una importante figura dentro de la familia, sin embargo, por mucho tiempo se desvalorizó su papel, como ciertamente, lo menciona la amiga Hive account@lisfabian, en su concurso... ya basta de arepita cebada.

Como lo he mencionado en la publicación hasta que te acordaste que tenías madre en mi familia, no festejábamos estas fechas, basta con los agasajos que se hacía en la escuela y punto, sin embargo, con el pasar del tiempo esto fue cambiando.

Recuerdo a mi padre siempre con una sonrisa es su cara, con una mirada expresiva, muy amoroso con los niños, especialmente con sus nietos, sobre protector con sus hijos, procurando que nunca nos faltará nada, debido a esto a veces tenía hasta dos trabajos, lo que le restaba tiempo para compartir con nosotros.

Con el pasar del tiempo lo pude entender, el objetivo primordial que de mi padre era que estudiáramos una carrera universitaria, de allí su esfuerzo, además haber sido la única persona que trabajó en mi casa, todo el peso económico reposa en sus hombros, no debió ser nada fácil para él, tener que mantener a seis personas.

Únicamente en época navideña podíamos disfrutar de la presencia de papá, quien se avocaba hacer las compras para las fiestas, a pesar de su continua ausencia sus acciones siempre me hablan de él. Cuando disponía de algún tiempo libre y sabía de la enfermedad de algún amigo o familiar, mi padre acudía a visitarlo.

Tanto familiares como amigos le tenía un gran aprecio, ya que él era servicial, gentil, siempre estaba presto para brindar ayuda a quien lo necesitará, era generoso, bondadoso, le gustaba tener buena relación con los vecinos.

Uno de los defectos de mi padre era los celos, principalmente con sus hijas, no le agradaba ver chicos revoloteando en la puerta de su casa, afortunadamente mi mamá intercedía en esos casos, ya que a veces podía ser muy obstinado con el tema de recibir a los novios de sus hijas en su casa.

Cuando mi padre se convirtió en un anciano tuve la fortuna de vivir con él durante esta etapa de su vida, donde pude descubrir quien era ese hombre que estuvo ausente en ciertos periodos de mi existencia, en ocasiones me logro contar algunas anécdotas de su infancia de la precariedad con la que vivió.

En ese tiempo tuve la oportunidad de acercarme a ese señor extraño que veía de vez en cuando a quien le pedía la bendición y le decía papá, pude conocer aspecto de él hasta ese momento desconocido por mí, como el arrojo y la valentía que poseía.

De sus hazañas de juventud, como se fue abriendo paso en la vida, a pesar de tener solo el segundo grado de instrucción primaria, como sé Safo de trabajos forzados por el simple hecho de saber leer y escribir, debido a que era muy raro de encontrar en su época personas alfabetizadas, ya que mi padre nació 1920, lo que significaba que poseer esas habilidades era todo un privilegio que solo algunos podían disfrutar.

Me hablo de la cantidad de veces que nos defendió como un león ante cualquier injusticia, lo hizo calladamente sin que nadie lo supiera. Mi padre siempre quiso tener fortuna y se quejaba de lo esquiva que había sido con él.

En una ocasión lo llevé a una la consulta con un geriatra, papá se quejaba nuevamente de su mal fortuna, entonces el doctor le dijo, tiene una familia, tuvo unos hijos que envió hasta la universidad y se graduaron, logro costear sus estudios que más fortuna puede desear, no sé si para mi padre aquellas palabras tuvo un alcance emocional, pero para mí fueron un verdadero regalo saber que había sido un lingote de oro en la vida de papá.

There are two Sundays left in the month of June for Venezuela to celebrate Father's Day, an important figure in the family, however, for a long time his role was devalued, as certainly mentioned by our friend Hive account@lisfabian, in her contest... enough of the arepita cebada.

As I mentioned in the publication until you remembered you had a mother in my family, we did not celebrate these dates, it was enough with the celebrations that were made at school and that was it, however, with the passing of time this was changing.

I remember my father always with a smile on his face, with an expressive look, very loving with the children, especially with his grandchildren, over protective with his children, trying that we never lacked anything, because of this sometimes he had two jobs, which subtracted him time to share with us.

As time went by I could understand that my father's main objective was that we study a university career, hence his effort, besides being the only person who worked in my house, all the economic weight rests on his shoulders, it must not have been easy for him, having to support six people.

Only at Christmas time we could enjoy the presence of my father, who was busy shopping for the holidays, and despite his continuous absence, his actions always spoke to me about him. When he had some free time and knew of the illness of a friend or relative, my father would visit him.

Both family and friends had a great appreciation for him, since he was helpful, gentle, always ready to help anyone who needed it, he was generous, kind, he liked to have a good relationship with his neighbors.

One of my father's defects was jealousy, mainly with his daughters, he did not like to see boys hovering at the door of his house, fortunately my mother interceded in those cases, because sometimes he could be very stubborn about receiving his daughters'boyfriends at his house.

When my father became an old man I had the fortune to live with him during this stage of his life, where I could discover who was that man who was absent in certain periods of my existence, sometimes he managed to tell me some anecdotes of his childhood of the precariousness with which he lived.

At that time I had the opportunity to get close to that strange man that I saw from time to time to whom I asked for his blessing and called him dad, I was able to get to know aspects of him unknown to me until that moment, such as the courage and bravery he possessed.

Of his youthful exploits, how he made his way in life, despite having only the second grade of elementary school, how I know Safo of forced labor for the simple fact of knowing how to read and write, because it was very rare to find literate people in his time, since my father was born in 1920, which meant that possessing those skills was a privilege that only a few could enjoy.

He told me about the number of times he defended us like a lion against any injustice, he did it quietly without anyone knowing. My father always wanted to have fortune and complained about how elusive she had been with him.

On one occasion I took him to a consultation with a geriatrician, dad was complaining again about his bad fortune, then the doctor told him, he has a family, he had some children that he sent to college and they graduated, he managed to pay for their studies, what more fortune can you want, I do not know if for my father those words had an emotional reach, but for me they were a real gift to know that he had been a gold bar in dad's life.