Emerging Courageous Online Magazine - Stories
"I'm a little disappointed in you."
by Roger Dean Kiser
I am very disappointed in you," said the mother, in a gentle tone, as
she looked down into the face of the 5 year old boy.
I watched as the boy's mother took the stolen candy bar from his shirt
pocket and placed it back onto the shelf. The small child stood there
looking down at the floor. His face somewhat turned away from his mother,
yet he said not a word.
I watched as she knelt down and kissed him on the forehead and then patted
him on the back.
All my years in the orphanage, reform school, jail and finally prison; no
one ever told me that they were "disappointed in me." Why was I
not worth hearing those words? Oh, how wonderful those words would have been
to my young ears.
Telling someone that you are disappointed in them means that you care about
them and that you are concerned about them as a person. That you love them
and that they are important to you.
No one ever took the time, or cared enough to tell me that they were
disappointed in me. When I was a little boy I always thought that I felt sad
and lonely because no one ever told me that they loved me.
I can only thank God that I was able to tell my children, and grandchildren,
when they did something wrong, how much I loved them by saying the words
"You know, I am just a little disappointed in you."