Holden has a habit in the novel of repeating himself, adding intensity each time. In the passage above, he's talking about his sister, Phoebe, and he says, first, that she's "affectionate." Then he describes her as "quite affectionate." The third time, he qualifies it even more: Phoebe is "too affectionate." It's almost as if Holden is apologizing for her affection.
Yesterday, I wasn't doing well with my father feelings. I was guilty, worried about all the time I spend away from home, which is the majority of the day. In short, I'm not convinced I'm doing that great of a job as a dad.
Yet, my son and daughter greet me like returning royalty when I walk through the door. Yesterday, when I met my wife at Burger King, my son practically floated over to me because he was so happy. And he always yells the same thing: "Daddeeeeeeee!" He wrapped his arms around my legs and wouldn't let go until I picked him up. Talk about being affectionate.
Perhaps that proves I am doing something right as a father. I'm not sure I'd get that kind of response if I were channeling Pappy Finn in my fathering techniques. I may be going too hard on myself. Of course, at the end of last night, I had to place my son on a time-out for slugging his sister in the face. He threw himself on the floor and somehow managed to give himself quite a little scrape on his belly. When I saw the injury, I was back in the father toilet for the rest of the night.
I think affection comes easily for kids like Phoebe and my son. They aren't careful like adults. Fatherhood is an exercise in extravagant child affection, guilt, and love.
Saint Marty has all of that and then some to spare.
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| Pappy gets it right sometimes... |
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