Love from Abroad

9 years ago my dad was a host to a spanish foreign exchange student. Upon hearing the most recent news, he sent my brother the below email. It fills me with immense happiness.

"The truth Greg is I'm not brave enough to hear the voice of your dad. I would cry, a lot. I always thought I would have the chance to save money fast to travel everywhere I want, and visit Bob at Seattle again.

But that's life. I was in Issaquah in 2001, 9 years ago, just during a month. But that was enough time for your dad to have an influence on me. In some way, he helped me to mature and see things with other eyes. When the rest of my then-classmates arrived to Seattle, they had very rich (in money) couples with little kids waiting for them. They told me how big where those houses and their rooms with TVs, computers, videogames and all that stuff. But when they wanted to visit some place, they had to pay for everything... I remember your dad never let me pay for anything. Most of the time, they (classmates) were also taking care of their children like babysitters, and closed in their rooms. Instead, your dad carried me everywhere. I explored the city of Seattle better than anyone thanks to him; we went to that National Park, remember, the rainforest at the Pacific Ocean... and more different spots. He introduced me his family, your grandfather, his friends. I remember we spent most of the time on the road, always doing something different.

It sounds great as a memory but as I said, he had an influence on me. He is the reason why, while I've been studying me career, I learnt scuba diving (which cost me part of my left ear, something I do not regret), get the license to play (not use) firearms, riding horses, drive cars, have different kind of weird adventures with girls, and also jump from airplanes. Sometimes life is too short, and the difference between your dad and most of people is he probably had a rich life. He traveled, he has used his legs, he has a family, people who love him... Fuck I also remember everyday when he told me how he hated to work in an office, and joined some fishing boat during a while. Bob is all about having a good life. It's not hard to love someone who expects the best of you and takes care of you. You know him better, but when I hear about if there are still good people on Earth is easy to think in Bob. See, I would not be able to tell him all this with my own voice. I only hope he has a good journey. And I don't need to tell him I love him because we both know already. A strong hug to you Greg."