1 minute read
In the Driveway by Richard Miller
Kaleidoscope 2021 2
In the Driveway
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by Richard Miller A long time ago, my dad asked me to look at the stars. He pointed to a star right above our house and said, “Son, can you see that star? That star wasn’t there until the night your brother died. That’s your brother looking down on us.” That was the first time I remember him trying to line up the stars. Since the ‘80s, my dad had projects. The projects were vast and many like: a gold mine he wanted to mine, a fire suppression system he wanted to sell to the landowner, or a computer program he made with a doctor friend to pass information to the pharmacist because doctors usually have bad writing. In his mind, it was going to make him somebody, and we would be financially secure. As a child, I was elated thinking of the life I would have, the things I would have, and the places I would see. Project by project, something always got in the way. The mine was salted, the water tank on the fire suppression system was too heavy with all the water for the axle, and the doctor cut him out of the deal. My dad’s dreams haven’t stopped. Due to his misfortune in business, his now ex-wife made him seek advice from a psychiatrist to see if he suffered from delusions of grandeur. To me, his stories are credible even today. He is on his phone and tells me he is talking to investors and the CEOs of major companies. He shows me groundbreaking batteries he acquired that will power cell towers. In my mind, that doesn’t make him somebody, but he always had and continues to have worth to me. His stories of becoming rich never stopped. But my time waiting for money to be happy ended in the ‘90s. A long time ago, my dad asked me to look at the stars. It is something I will never forget. Not because of the wonder of what was out there. It was for the appreciation from the stars of what is here... A boy and his dad in the driveway.
