I had kind of a troublesome (for me) relationship with my father, but on balance, the positive things have exceeded the negative, now that I look back several years after he died. (...)
A very dynamic and authoritative person, he never gave advice to anyone, including his sons --he gave orders: do this, do that, this is what you must do (the car that should buy, the career that you must follow...). I subconsciously developed a resistance to whatever "shoulds" came from him. Now I find myself and my own son repeating mostly the same pattern !! At least I now say "I suggest that you should do..." but the effect is the same: he does not pay much attention if it comes from me...
He was a very disorganized man: his time and space was always a shambles, another thing that came down to me and now my son.
On the positive side, I learned from him always to work hard and to never quit. He had a factory, but his own disorganization made him start over time and then abruptly end too many distinct products: dishes, pots, gas lamps, electric lamps, bicycle parts... The business would go up and then down and then another product and the same cycle would be repeated time and again.
Bu the greatest gift was the appreciation of Art in all its forms. In Europe and New York we spent ours on museums together: Later on I started to like certain works of modern art, which he always disliked, and also moved on to enjoy great cinema and theater. Classical music concerts and specially Opera was however and even greater gift. We never missed any of the international opera seasons in Mexico City, and also went together to most symphonic orchestra seasons. I have followed with this passion for fine music and concerts and appreciation for art through all my life. My brother has built a small cinema room in his house, and we enjoy great operas on video together. I preffer the Classic Arts Showcase channel to any other program on TV and watch it every night. Great music sometimes produce an excitement and fulfilment only comparable to orgasm, but longer...
Such music is retained in my mind, and from there it cannot be stolen. I have the feeling that whatever happens in my life, I will always have that music to fall back on.
No comments:
Post a Comment