Today, I spent the afternoon with Ganesh, one of my best friends.
We went to lunch and followed that up with a couple of places for wine-tasting. We caught up on a number of things, and not surprisingly, the conversation shifted to my dad. I said numerous people have told me they were impressed by the detail of the stories I've shared about him; however, I've always been an emotional person, and when you tie emotion to a memory, it makes a powerful connection. He then shared a story with me that brought both of us to tears.
In undergrad, I had my first real relationship, and my first real break-up. And it devastated me, as most first love break-ups do. It was difficult for my friends to see me like that, and Ganesh constantly struggled with what he could do to help me. One night I was particularly bad, and it reached a point where my friends could no longer do this on their own. They called my parents, told them how worried they were, and my parents, without hesitation, got their stuff together and drove to Chicago that night. They wanted to be with their son - and as I've said before, I am so blessed to have parents like them.
When my parents were on the road, Ganesh called them. He wasn't able to sleep and was struggling because of how bad I was struggling. Ganesh is not only one of my best friends, but he is my brother as well. He told my dad he didn't know what to do, that he couldn't figure out how to help me. Daddy started by being practical, saying to Ganesh I needed to get over my ex and do a better job of handling it. But he then said this very calmly to Ganesh:
"Don't worry anymore, beta [son]. Go to sleep. It will be okay. Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
When Daddy said those words to Ganesh, an immediate calm fell over him. He said hearing those words from Daddy made him believe everything WAS going to be okay. Hearing those words from Daddy, being as calm as he was, echoed a truth to Ganesh that he couldn't deny.
And with those words and the knowledge Daddy was going to be by my side soon, he finally was able to go to sleep.