I never understood why my father sat silently by the window every evening… Years later, sitting in that same chair, I finally realized what he was teaching me — without ever saying a word. Some lessons only make sense when life slows down.

Sometimes I would ask him, “Dad, why don’t you watch something? You’ll fall asleep just sitting there.”

He’d smile — that small, knowing smile — and say,
“I’m not waiting for sleep.”

That answer never made sense to me.

Years went by. Life got louder. Busier. Faster.
I moved away. Built my own routine. My own distractions.

And slowly, those quiet evenings faded into the background of memory.

Until the day they didn’t.

The House Felt Too Big After He Left

When my father passed, I returned to the house I grew up in.

Everything was exactly where it had always been.
The same curtains.
The same clock ticking too loudly in the hallway.

And that chair.

Still by the window.

I sat in it for the first time in years.

At first, I felt foolish.
Then uncomfortable.
Then restless.

The urge to reach for my phone was overwhelming.

But something stopped me.

I stayed.

continued on next page