OncetheSon， NowtheFather
W.W.米德 /
OnewintereveningasIsatreading， myyoungson， Luke， ’sofficedesk.
Inthosedays， ， ， ， — althoughhewouldn’tadmittomethathecoulddothat.
Ilookedupfrommypaper， ， anot-too-flatteringimitationofme.“Ibrokemysaw，” hesaid， withdrawingthetoyfrombehindhisback.“Here.”
Hedidn’， ’， whotreasuredthetoolsofallprofessions， wouldnothaveapprovedofaplastic-handledsaw.
Isaid， “？”
.
Hewatchedmeintently， ， turningoverthebrokenpiecesinmyhandsasIturnedoverthepastinmymind.
WhenIwasseven， I’dgonetomyfather’—andhispatients —， buthecouldalsobreakahorse， carveatopandslidedownLongHillonmysled， standingup！ Ilikedtohangaroundhiswaitingroomandhearpeoplecallme “littleDoc” ， andIlikedthewayhispatientsalwayslookedbetterwhentheylefthisoffice.
Butonthisday， whenIwasseven， mypurposewastoseemybestfriend， ’tbeeninschoolforthreedays， andhismotherhadsentwordtomyfather’snursethatshejustmightbringJimmyintoseethedoctortoday.
Whenthelastoftheafternoon’spatientshadgone， ， ， myfathersaidsuddenly， “Let’sgoupandcheckonoldJimmy.” Ifeltsquirmywithgratitude， ， therewasalightintheupstairsbackwindowandanotheronthebackporch—theancientbeaconsoftrouble.
， Jimmy’soldersister， camerunningoutofthehouseandthrewherarmsaroundmyfather， cryingandshakingandtryingtotalk.“Oh， ’sdying！ Dad’’rehere.”
， ， -smellingkitchenandupthenarrow， ， ， .
Hismothersaid， “Oh， ， thenthisafternoonhestartedthisterriblesweat.”
IhadneverseenJimmy’， bothherhandsonmyshoulders， asmyfatherlistenedtoJimmy’’’sbreathandJimmy’shigh， wheezingresponse.
Thensuddenlyaslightning， therewastheawfulsoundofmyfather’’shandstightenonmyshouldersandknew， assheknew， ’， ， putherhandonmyfather’sarmandsaid， veryquietly， “He’sgone， ’snotwithusanymore.” Butmyfatherwouldnotmove.
， ， lookingasforlornasI’veeverseenanybodylook， threwherselfonhermother’.
