what my father told me once

i was an early teenager and full of my self

(a phase that lasted decades}

one afternoon when he was home

which didn't happen very often

i popped off to my mother

no bad words but the tone was disrespectful

he said come here boy

and we went into the other room

where he said to me most respectfully

if you don't respect that woman because she is your mother

that's my wife and i don't want your talking to her that way

and i never used that tone again with my mother

this was not because i was afraid of my father

he just spoke to me man to man

and what he said was more than the words