Every year, Nathan’s parents would take him to his grandmother’s house to spend the summer vacation, and they would return to their own home on the same train the next day.
One day the boy said to his parents, “I’m big now. Can I go to my grandmother’s house by myself?” After a brief discussion, the parents agreed.
They stood waiting for the train to depart, saying goodbye to their son and giving him some advice through the window, while Nathan repeated, “I know! You’ve told me more than a thousand times.” The train is about to leave, and his father whispered in his ear, “Son, if you feel bad or insecure, this is for you!” And he put something in his pocket.
Now Nathan is alone, seated on the train as he wanted, without his parents for the first time. He admires the landscape through the window, around him strangers push each other, make a lot of noise, and come and go from the carriage.
The conductor makes some comments about him being alone. Someone looks at him with sad eyes. Nathan now feels bad with each passing minute. And now he is scared.
He lowers his head… feeling cornered and alone, with tears in his eyes. Then he remembers that his father put something in his pocket. Trembling, he searches for what his father gave him. Upon finding the piece of paper, he reads it, on it is written: “Son, I’m in the last carriage!”
Such is life, we must let our children go, and we must trust them. But we always have to be in the last carriage, watching, in case they are scared or if they encounter obstacles and don’t know what to do.
We have to be close to them for as long as we live, a child will always need his parents. Always in the last carriage.
Also read: The Great Pancake Escape – The Statute