13/06/2012

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT: CANON GARTH HEWITT

In 2008 a book was released simply called 'Dads’, to raise money for a charity, and in it many people, well known and not so well known, talked about their Dads. Some are poignant, some are hysterical, and my son Ben wrote a chapter about me.

His own experience of fatherhood had started eighteen months before, with one child, but then they had twins so they were experiencing the impact of three children, under 18 months. He kindly wrote that I’d always encouraged him to fix his sights beyond the immediate… and to look at a situation in a way that’s rooted in possibility and hope. I was relieved to hear him being so positive. I am now watching two sons that I brought up, bringing up their children, and it has brought back many memories for me.

I remember when I did homework as a child my father would try and encourage me to do it properly. I frustrated him because I couldn't really concentrate - I was much more interested in his hands when he put them on the table….such great gnarled hands because he had been a miner working down the pit, and my hands both then and now looked so different to his. But also the crow’s feet round his eyes. I loved those crow’s feet, they gave such character and there was something about them that I viewed with great affection, and hoped one day I would have some too. And now I've got them. And it amazes me that people want to get rid of these beautiful examples of character, which become even more obvious when you smile.

A phrase my children used to laugh at me for saying was, “The battle for the day is won the night before.” It was one my father used to say to me, and it gives me great satisfaction when just occasionally I hear one of my children say those words now, and I know that in our family those words will be passed on.