A Zillion Hugs For my Dad

When I appeared for the first time on stage in a school play I had a very small role and just a single line dialog. Yet when I delivered it fumbling and shaking out of nervousness there was a loud clapping sound in the audience and this made me feel confident and self assured.

When I looked up to see who was the single person clapping and rooting for me I found it to be my dad who was enthusiastically cheering and appreciating his five year old son’s that is my performance.He was so happy seeing me perform as if I had just delivered an Oscar winning performance.

 As I got off the stage after my performance my father came running towards me and greeted me with a hug. A hug that was so warm and I as a young boy, a first grader felt so protected in his strong and masculine arms.

As I grew older I found that a few children my age had bicycles . My father was of the view that trying out new things are a part of growing up so out of the money that he had saved from his overtime , he bought me a red gleaming bicycle .

He ran behind my bike supporting  me relentlessly day after day till I learned to balance and drive the bicycle. On the journey of learning there were many hugs that I received from him. Some to encourage me to try harder and others to console me after a bad fall. His hugs and support were a constant companion.

Growing up further I found the skateboard very fascinating and before even I could ask for it my father got one for me and I thanked him with a hug.

I felt that he enjoyed hugging me as much as I enjoyed hugging him. The warmth was mutual. Although whenever I wanted something I would go up to him wrap my relatively smaller arms around him and he would always read my mind and asked me what I wanted.

In all these years, I don’t remember If he had asked for anything from me in return. He hugged me because he cared for me and loved me.

As I grew up further I moved out of the house to attend college. The day I was leaving for college he hugged me in a warm embrace that lasted longer than usual. Perhaps he knew that he would not be able to hug me any time often soon. As I was an adult ready to embark on a new journey of my life or perhaps it was an embrace with the touch and warmth to protect me from the big bad world outside. As time went by I graduated from college and took up my first job. Time few fast and I got very little time to spend with my father. Even the warm Hug did not happen for a very long time.

Recently when I saw a colleague of mine embrace his new born child in a warm gentle hug I saw the child’s eye glow up with happiness and this sight made me realize what I would have felt when I was embraced by my father for the first time . Looking back at my childhood days and all my interactions with my father I feel that there are very few things that can stir up the feeling of being protected for a person when he or she is in the company of a doting father. For a child getting a hug from his or her father means different things. Sometimes it is the feeling of love and warmth and sometimes it is being protected   .However for a father it is his way of showing his unconditional love and support for his child. Now that I am grown up I feel it’s very important to reciprocate my dad’s unconditional love with a hug. For it is the best way and language to convey love and to say that we stand for each other and I shall continue to love him and cherish every moment spent with him. If I were to hug my dad for every moment that he has stood with me and for me then it would be a zillion hugs and counting

 “This father’s day, I am expressing my love towards my dad by participating in the #HugYourDad activity at BlogAdda in association with Vicks.”

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