“When I was around thirteen and my brother ten, Father had promised to take us to the circus. But at lunchtime there was a phone call; some urgent business required his attention downtown. We braced ourselves for disappointment. Then we heard him say [into the phone], ‘No, I won’t be down. It’ll have to wait.’
“When he came back to the table, Mother smiled. ‘The circus keeps coming back, you know,’”
“‘I know,’ said Father. ‘But childhood doesn’t.”
Oh ALLAH, allow us to be the best of parents. Aameen.
CHILDREN DO NOT NEED OUR PRESENTS THEY NEED OUR PRESENCE