We can change
My dad and I used to watch NFL football every Sunday, almost without fail.
He'd grown up watching and playing football, which is strange considering he's from Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, a place that by all rights should not have cared about American football at all. But he loved it all the same, and he taught me to love it. All those Sundays spent sitting on the couch, watching our favorite teams (He was a Steelers fan, and I a Broncos fan, even though we'd never lived in either Pittsburgh or Denver) are some of my favorite memories from childhood. Every 3rd down he'd turn to me, very seriously, and say, "This is a very important play.". When I watch a football game now, I find myself turning to my daughter, who is usually engrossed in her toys or in trying to crawl, and tell her: "This is a very important play".
My dad stopped watching NFL football a while ago. The specifics aren't super important, but suffice to say that his reasoning for leaving behind the sport he loved came from a political point of view that I disagreed with. At the time it just seemed like one of his many eccentricities; my dad is a stickler for principle, which I actually admire in most cases. However, I realized that his breakup with the NFL was a loss for me as well. I haven't followed the NFL or the Broncos in years. Of course, I don't really miss watching football itself – I miss connecting with my dad, having something that would bring us together. Our perspectives on many things have diverged quite a bit since I was a kid and that divergence can make connecting with him quite difficult. Sometimes it feels like talking to a stranger, particularly because many of his perspectives seem to be connected to people whose values seem to be otherwise totally different from his. My dad is kind and loving, he's someone that would and has gone to tremendous lengths to help those in need. So it's confusing to see him going down a path that seems lined with, in the best case, willful ignoring of those in need, and in the worst case an active dislike of others.
But just yesterday, he sent me a text. He was watching the Steelers play! They were playing the Browns, their perennial rivals, and he texted me to comment on how both teams were going for it on 4th down instead of punting. He liked that. It showed dedication to the craft of the game, a hardiness and refusal to quit that he liked.
Maybe he'll start watching football again. And maybe he'll change in other ways too. I can only hope!