I think my dad retired just to silently watch my life fall apart. My dad retired last year. Everyone thought he’d start golfing, fishing, maybe traveling. Instead, he keeps showing up at my apartment unannounced. He doesn’t talk much. He just sits with me, fixes little things, eats whatever I have (which is usually nothing), and leaves after an hour or two.
I thought it was annoying at first. But recently I realized he only started doing this after my breakup. He never asks how I’m doing.
Never brings up the breakup. Never pushes. Last week he walked in, saw my laundry piled up, dishes everywhere, unopened mail.
He didn’t comment. He just quietly started washing dishes while humming the same off-key tune he used to sing when I was a kid. And I just… felt myself crack a little.
I think my dad realized I’m depressed before I did. And somehow he found this gentle, non-invasive way of keeping me afloat without making me feel like a burden. I don’t know how to tell him I notice.
Or that I’m grateful. Or that I’m scared for the day he stops coming.
