"So I was still and Listened."

"So I was still and Listened."

by

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

And I heard my wife talking to me about her fears and the things that she wants to achieve in the future and how it all fits into the future that we want to have.

And I heard my daughter share her day and the worries that she have about herself and how she could be better and that she is never enough though she is enough. 

I put down my phone and looked at these women in my life. I turned off my games and even in the wee hours of the morning I listened as my wife poured out her heart about politics and financial institutions and as much as I wanted to share my own thoughts on the matter , I listened and rediscovered something that I highly admired about my wife. Her own will. That strong will and say in the things that she wants in her life. So in the wee hours of the morning I found myself listening and learning.

I woke up when she came in the door. Waited for her to finish all her little rituals such as cleaning herself and changing into home clothes and keeping her things. Despite not having much sleep I went and I put down my phone and I listened. For a couple of weeks I have had to deal with a surly temperament from her.Some of which still show up in this conversation we were having but I was not out to dish out discipline or give a lecture.I was also here to listen and so I asked her the question. "How was school?"

And it was a torrent that flooded out. This need to share everything with me. How she was so busy and that all her friends were so busy that they can only see each other for a short while and end up during various things at the same time like walking while talking or exercising while talking. I smiled. They wanted to petition one teacher to teach in a particular subject and had began #justiceforSt.Bernard campaign because they feel that they could learn so much more from this one teacher over the current one. I listened as Aven told me in detail about decorative holes in the girls bathroom that a peeping tom used and that it was already reported and fixed thanks to her and her friend. I felt a lot of things but I felt proud mostly because we were raising up someone who despite being young knew what to do and kept calm in situations where others would panic. 

I put down my phone and I looked at my daughter. I remembered talking to my wife in the wee hours of the morning and I have realized that I missed talking to them this way. I will never let go of the weekends and my days off because I want to be a part of them as we continue to grow. I am thankful to have such a luxury when others cannot afford it. I will not waste a single moment of it. 

And so I will put down my phone and listen.