Sour Story And 2 Sweet Tales
Three small boys. Crayons, a toy truck, ice cream. A good-morning hug, a morning smile, tears.
First the ice cream and tears.
Dan Pearce’s “Single Dad Laughing” blog is so hugely popular his most recent post has received 10,730 comments – about 10,730 of them angry.
Not at Pearce, but at what he witnessed in a Costco and wrote about in an essay that is no laughing matter. Headlined “You Just Broke Your Child. Congratulations” the 2,000-word piece begins: “Dads. Stop breaking your children. Please.”
Pearce continues: “As Noah and I stood in line to make a return, I watched as a little boy (he couldn’t have been older than six) looked up at his dad and asked very timidly if they could buy some ice cream when they were done. The father glared him down, and through clenched teeth, growled at the boy to ‘leave him alone and be quiet.’ The boy quickly cowered to the wall where he stood motionless and hurt for some time.
“The line slowly progressed and the child eventually shuffled back to his father as he quietly hummed a childish tune, seemingly having forgotten the anger his father had just shown. The father again turned and scolded the boy for making too much noise. The boy again shrunk back and cowered against the wall, wilted.
“I was agitated. I was confused. How could this man not see what a beautiful spirit stood in his shadow? How could this man be so quick to stub out all happiness in his own boy? How could this man not cherish the only time he’ll ever have to be everything to this boy? To be the person that matters most to this boy?
“We were three from the front now, and the boy started to come towards his dad yet again. His dad immediately stepped out of the line, jammed his fingers into his son’s collarbones until he winced in pain, and threatened him: ‘If you so much as make a sound or come off of that wall again, I promise you’re going to get it when we get home.’
“The boy again cowered against the wall. This time, he didn’t move. He didn’t make a sound. His beautiful face pointed down, locked to the floor and expressionless. He had been broken.”
Pearce goes on to powerfully, and poetically, describe at length what a “gift” it is to be a dad and concludes: “Dads. Every child has the innate right to ask for ice cream without being belittled and broken. . . . Every child deserves a superhero dad.”
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Manuel Sanchez is a superhero to someone else’s child.
Sanchez drives a sanitation truck in Ojai and his route takes him past 5-year-old Daniel Mulligan’s home. Daniel is autistic and loves garbage trucks. Every Monday morning he waits out front to wave at Sanchez and excitedly watch as the truck’s mechanical claw reaches out to nosily grab and empty the trash cans.
Last Monday, Sanchez did more than wave back and smile – he parked and gave Daniel a new toy garbage truck. Daniel’s mother captured the magical moment on video. Titled simply “The Gift” it has gone viral on Facebook and YouTube.
Enjoying a laugh, and a hug, with my Little Guy now grown up.
You cannot watch “The Gift” without smiling – and also sadly wishing the boy in Costco had a dad like Sanchez.
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Or like Drew Daywalt.
I met Daywalt a few weeks past at Mrs. Fig’s Bookworm in Camarillo when he was signing “The Day The Crayons Quit” which is No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller List for Children’s Picture Books. As fellow dads and writers, and native Ohioans, we hit it off like old friends.
The day I read Single Dad Laughing’s heartbreaking essay, Drew shared this heartwarming post with his Facebook friends:
“I hugged Reese when we woke up this morning. And I told him he was beautiful. He said, ‘Boys aren’t beautiful. They’re handsome,’ and I said, ‘I dunno man. . . You are really beautiful in my eyes.’ He hugged me and smiled.”
In my book, that’s the picture of a superhero dad.