A Sweet Melody

Feeling the calm breeze in the Barossa Valley is one of the sensations I remember when I think of the time when my family seemed like it had drifted apart. All my life I had been living in an area full of people, cars and entertainment. Once I was removed from it, what was left in life for me? My father, an ex-navy marine, chose to spend his retirement in his hometown and my mum, a Christian charity manager, was keen to adventure into different places. This led us as a family to move out of the city.


The name I was given when I was born was Jadean which means ‘precious green stone’. This was because of the blue-green eyes I inherited from my mother’s side. My two younger sisters and I are still not settling in well to school as it means new friends, new teachers and new rules. The school I used to go to was noisy, casual and open but the school I attend now is the total opposite. But over the last two years, I have learned that family, not school, is what is most important.
My father and I were like best friends two years ago. We just had so much in common that we would spend hours talking about a book we read or even music we heard that day. When I was young, he taught me how to read books and play the piano. He filled my life with adventure, music and love, till one day when he had to leave for his work, it all stopped. I was angry that he left us all for his work because I was so attached to him. I missed him every day and as the months of waiting turned to years, I gave up on him. We just grew apart so much that we never communicated even when he came home.


Then came the time for my father’s 50th birthday. I had no idea what to get him since I was now living far away from any shops. So I decided to just drive into the nearest town and peruse the local gift shops. I walked up and down till I came across a watch shop which looked rather like an ideal place to buy a gift. When I opened the door, a bell on top of the door heralded my entrance. As I headed to the counter, I saw an old man in his 60’s sitting down looking through a watch. “I won’t be a minute”, he said in his husky voice. While waiting, I saw a catalogue on the side of the table and decided to have a look at the watches that were on sale. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the shadow of a young man in his 20’s coming through the door. As he walked by me, I was assailed by the scent of the salty sea on him and with that a picture of my father as a young man came into my mind. My heart contracted. As I stared up, he looked at me and asked if he could help me with something. I gazed at him momentarily in confusion as I thought he was a customer wanting help. “Oh I’m sorry, I’m Ben. That’s my dad inside and he asked me to help you. So how may I be at your service today?”


After talking to him and envying his obvious loving relationship with his father, I decided to choose the Rolex Deepsea which I thought reflected my father’s love of the sea as I really wanted to reconnect with him again. You see, I thought that his birthday would be a great time for me to ask for his forgiveness. As I signed a cheque in agreement to buy that watch, Ben handed me the watch which was covered in a silver box. After thanking him, I went out of the shop and got into my brand new mini cooper, and drove back home. While I was driving, I was thinking of all those years I had never spoken to my father. I felt so guilty and scared that I stopped the car at the side of the road. Many thoughts were racing through my head at that time. It was like a film of my life with him, unravelling before my eyes.


I reached home and the house was still and silent like a mausoleum. It felt almost as if everyone was dead. Suddenly I heard a gentle melody being played and it was coming from my room! As I walked warily to my room, I saw my father sitting on the chair playing a melody on my piano. With my heart beating, I recognized the melody that he used to teach me after he returned from the navy. Tears welled in my eyes as it brought back those sweet memories of my father and me. As I walked to his side, he stopped and gazed up at me.


“Hey Jade, I’m sorry I entered your room without your knowledge. It’s just that, I saw all those pictures in the photo album of me teaching you how to play the piano when you were five. Those were my sweetest memories which are still a blessing to me. Do you remember what we played?”


As I sat beside him without saying a word, my fingers touched the keys on the piano. I closed my eyes and suddenly I heard that melody again. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to see my fingers playing the piano. As he joined in, I realized that our lives would forever more be intertwined like the notes we were playing together of the sweet melody begun so many years ago.