I arrived at my son’s house five minutes before New Year’s Eve. Before I even knocked, I heard him toasting: “2025 is going to be perfect! Without the old man in our lives!” I sat down on the sidewalk and waited alone for the fireworks, but at 12:10 a.m., he exploded when he saw what I’d done… – Reading Times

I spent my entire life in this neighborhood raising my son and working like a dog because I always believed that family was a sacred bond. What a foolish thing for a man like me to believe for so many decades.

I spent forty two years of my career climbing freezing poles and fixing high voltage cables during the most dangerous winter storms. I suffered electric shocks that made my hair stand on end for a week, yet I never complained because I had a purpose.

I would wake up at four thirty in the morning and return home at seven at night, often working until noon on most Saturdays. My wife, Eleanor, may God rest her soul, used to tell me that I was going to kill myself working so hard for that boy.

“Arthur, you are pushing yourself too hard for a future that isn’t even here yet,” she would say while rubbing my sore shoulders. I always replied that it was for our future and so that Julian could have a much better life than the one we struggled through.