Nehaveigur

On my desk, I have a picture of my father together with a four year old girl. They both look at the camera. She’s not happy about having her picture taken in the way little girls sometimes are but my father looks more relaxed than on any other photo I have of him, confident and like he has found his calling.

The picture was taken in 1994, the year after he had turned 50 and had sold his company, allowing him to retire. He had traveled to a remote part of Madagascar to work at a leprosy colony, helping to build new houses and restore old ones for more than a month. The phone was taken there, and the little girl was one of the kids living at the colony.

I believe what he had planned was to spend the following years on similar projects and adventures. He did continue to travel but his trip to Madagascar would be his longest and most off the beaten track. He went back to Africa a few times,  even taking me along with him. As the years went by, his trips became less adventurous and more conventional like short stints to France, Ireland or Thailand.

What happened? Why did he not continue traveling and pushing himself? I don’t know, but I think one big factor may have been that his health declined. As he got older, he started to suffer from chronic back pain that must’ve taken a lot out of him although he hardly ever complained. Money may have been another consideration, since he when he died there wasn’t much left.

But it wasn’t only that his travels got less ambitious. His other hobbies and his social life fizzled out too. He did have friends and acquaintances and knew how to be charming when he wanted to, but he didn’t have any large projects to sustain him. As he reached 70, he didn’t even have small projects.

It’s a mistake that I’m intent on not repeating.