Pappy was a very responsible single parent who vowed after the death of his wife to take very good care of his children. James and Gina were the children of Mr. Peter Pappy.
Pappy was a vegetable farmer who did all kinds of menial jobs in addition to support his two children through the highest level of education. James completed his education with a master’sdegree in biochemistry while Gina became a broadcast journalist with a reputable media company.
Soon old age caught up with Pappy and he could not take care of himself so his son James took him to come and live with him and his wife Vicky. James and Vicky lived in a plush mansion in the city with their three Children Richie, Carol and Mavis. It happens that Pappy was diagnosed of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease which made it difficult to hold on to things because every now and then his hands kept on shaking. The disease took a great toll on Pappy.
One evening something happened that completely shattered the joy of Pappy and brought him great pain which he eventually took to the grave. It was a nice Saturday Dinner at the plush Mansion of James. Dinner was served and while they were dinning the glass plate and spoon fell from the hand of Pappy from the dining table because his hands were shaking, the Glass plate got broken through the fall with the food all over the floor and it got James furious and he yelled at his father. Tears flowed from the eyes of Pappy while he looked sorrowfully into the face of his son whom he has toiled to make him what he is now.
The next evening on the dinning table to the outmost shock and surprise of Pappy the servant who was serving dinner brought out a wooden plate and wooden spoon which was place front of Pappy. He asked his son James; ‘’James what is the meaning of these my son?” Pappy asked and James replied ‘’From now on Dad you are going to be eating in this wooden plate because I don’t want you to be breaking my expensive glass and ceramic plates”. The words of James were like dagger and arrow heads in the heart of Pappy as he sat completely shocked. He thought of all the toils he went through to raise up his son to this level after the death of his wife. Two years after this incident happened Pappy died and was buried by his son James and daughter Gina.
Many years passed by and old age caught up with James. James suffered from a mild stroke after his wife passed away in a tragic motor accident. Richie was old now and was working as an accountant in one of the biggest Breweries in the country. Richie was married to a very beautiful lady who was working as lecturer in the foremost university in the country.
History as it is said has a way of repeating itself. The children of James who were sitting on the dinning table that very fateful evening when Pappy broke the glass plate hid the wooden plate their grandfather used after Pappy passed away.
It was Christmas eve dinner and James seventy-six years old could not handing folk and knife without spilling the food on the dining table. So, on this fateful Christmas dinner Richie instructed the servant whom his father James had instructed to feed his grandfather with the wooden plate and spoon to go and bring the wooden plate and spoon which Richie has kept in one of the Kitchen cabinets. James who is now old and in his electronic wheel chair rode to the dining table to discover his son and daughter in-law with his two grandchildren were already seated on the dining table. He looked in front of him before the dining table and saw the wooden plate with the wooden spoon. James got upset and in very angry tone quizzed Richie; “Hey Son what is the meaning of these?!’’ Richie answered his father rather sarcastically “Old man keep quite and enjoy your dinner in the wooden plate with your wooden spoon because by your actions with our grandfather your taught as that wooden spoon and plate are good for old sick parents since its difficult in old age to handle glass plate and cutlery sets” Enjoy your meal and stop nagging!
If you are reading this story kindly note that we will all get old someday and we must treat old people especially those with infirmities with a lot of care.