A Small Reminder of Responsibility - Assalamu Alaikum

Assalamu Alaikum, Heard this story at a recovery meeting. Thought I’d share. A single father had his 6-year-old son for the weekend, but the night before he’d gotten so wasted on drugs and alcohol that all he wanted to do was sleep it off. The boy was buzzing with excitement: “Dad, let’s do this! Let’s go there! Play with me at the park!” The dad noticed a magazine on the coffee table with a picture of the earth on the cover. He said, “Alright, buddy, I’ll tell you what,” and tore the picture into pieces, scattering them across the table. “When you finish putting this back together, we’ll go to the park.” The son eagerly began working, thrilled that his dad would play with him. The father went back to his room hoping for an hour or two of rest. Sitting there, ashamed, he thought, “What am I doing? He just wants to spend time with me and I’m too messed up. I need to straighten my life out.” Five to ten minutes later there was a knock at the door. “Dad! Dad! I’m done! I did it!” The dad couldn’t believe it. The picture was reassembled. He asked his son how he managed it so fast. The boy said, “Well Dad, on the back of the picture of the world there was a picture of a man. When I put the man back together, everything else fell into place.” May this remind us that our families need us, and when we work on ourselves and our role as husbands or fathers, the rest of life can fall into place inshaAllah.