Autistic Fathers

Some fathers are physically present at home.
But they don’t engage their kids.
Instead, they’re wrapped up in their own world. Either watching TV or surfing the web. That’s why I call them autistic fathers.
Many years ago, I met Grace. She told me that as a child, her goal in life was to make her father smile at her. Because he never did.
Oh, she would find him laughing with his barkada.
But never to her.
One day, she came home with very high grades on her report card. In her heart, she hoped that perhaps today, he would smile at her.
But when she gave him the report card, all her father did was look at it for two seconds, grunt, tossed it back, and went back watching TV.
Not one word of affirmation or appreciation.
Her little heart was crushed.
For years, Grace had a hard time imagining that God was pleased with her. She always imagined God having a perpetual frown on his face.