Father was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a
living to
support his wife and three children. He spent all his
evenings after
work attending classes, hoping to improve himself so
that he could
one day find a better paying job. Except for Sundays,
Father hardly
ate a meal together with his family. He worked and
studied very hard
because he wanted to provide his family with the best
money could
buy.
Whenever the family complained that he was not
spending enough time
with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for
them. But he
often yearned to spend more time with his family.
The day came when the examination results were
announced. To his joy,
Father passed, and with distinctions too! Soon after,
he was offered
a good job as a senior supervisor which paid
handsomely.
Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to
provide his family
with life's little luxuries like nice clothing, fine
food and
vacation abroad.
However, the family still did not get to see father
for most of the
week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be
promoted to the
position of manager. In fact, to make himself a
worthily candidate
for the promotion, he enrolled for another course in
the open
university.
Again, whenever the family complained that he was not
spending enough
time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this
for them. But
he often yearned to spend more time with his family.
Father's hard work paid off and he was promoted.
Jubilantly, he
decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her
domestic tasks.
He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer
big enough, it
would be nice for his family to be ablt to enjoy the
facilities and
comfort of a condominium. Having experienced the
rewards of his hard
work many times before, Father resolved to further his
studies and
work at being promoted again. The family still did not
get to see
much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on
Sundays
entertaining clients. Again, whenever the family
complained that he
was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned
that he was doing
all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more
time with his
family.
As expected, Father's hard work paid off again and he
bought a
beautiful condominium overlooking the coast of
Singapore. On the
first Sunday evening at their new home, Father
declared to his
family that he decided not to take anymore courses or
pursue any more
promotions. From then on he was going to devote more
time to his
family.
Father did not wake up the next day.
