My father was born 12:00 pm on a Sunday, 48 years ago. "Feliz cumpleaños Pa," I said as I leaned in to give him a kiss. His face was rough like the spiky half of a Velcro strip and I was glad to see that he relieved himself from shaving duties. I worked until 9:00 pm because even though I wanted to stay home, I knew he would prefer if I fulfilled my responsibility. By the time I got home dinner was ready, so I freshened up and we began to eat. Being the Dollar Store's number one shopper, my father set the table with colorful plastic plates, cups and utensils. Before I began eating the appetizer, I picked up a piece of the pepperoni bread and wondered how it was made so that each slice looked like a bulls-eye target. The main course consisted of chicken cutlet, breaded to perfection, fusilli the size of AAA batteries covered with a red sauce, and a fresh garden salad. Bread was scattered throughout the table like stars in the sky. I love food, but as much as I enjoy eating, a simple conversation stole the spotlight from the meal. In an innocent question, my brother asked how he felt about being 48.
"Throughout the years," he began, "the number 3 has proven itself to be significant in my life."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, 3, it's simple. Off the top of my head, the bible makes 3 important references to the number 3: The holy trinity, Jesus was denied 3 times, and Jesus resurrected on the 3rd day. We're in the year '12, 1+2=3. Today I turned 48, 4+8=12, 1+2=3."
My father is an accountant, so numbers, second to us, are his life. His words are like the air I breath. When he speaks, I inhale them as deeply as possible as my lungs trap the knowledge inside. I love listening to his thoughts, his theories, and specially his subconscious lectures.
"The importance of 3 to me, however, is summed up in 3 special events. Each one of your births, the 3 happiest days of my life."
Although today is birthday, the beautiful thing about today is that we didn't celebrate my father's age, but rather we celebrated another day of being together. Technically, everyday together is a celebration, but for some unexplainable reason, today felt like a special Thursday.
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"The number 3 also gave rise to all numbers (3+1=4, 3+2=5, 3+3=6...3+7=10, etc"
ReplyDeleteCan you see the obvious flaw in that argument?
That's right! It doesn't account for the numbers 1 and 2.
However, although we live in a binary world [a light is either on or off; male or female; yes or no; etc.] three is significant: the three states of being are create, maintain, destroy [I pinched that idea from Hinduism]. I wrote a book about it once, but as it remains unpublished I can't post a link. But I can post a link to my blog if you would like to read more off-the-wall thinking:
http://dennishodgson.blogspot.com/