Walter Lee Younger: A Short Story
Two restless souls trapped in a world where money is the only salvation. Stuck in a place where only the rich can enjoy the privileges of life, my father, and Walter Lee Younger can only dream of one-day striking gold. Not long ago were they dreamers among the masses, eager to try something new. Once an oyster, now a boulder, the world seems to open its doors only for the select few and close them for those who dream. Like Walter, my father also witnesses the men downtown, "...sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars… sometimes not much older than (himself)" (74). Watching opportunities like this can end up igniting an urgency, as if “...Something is eating you up like a crazy man…"(72), knowing that others don't share the same
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It was around Christmas time, a supposedly splendid time to be alive. While Christmas had been a jubilant celebration in years past, I had noticed the mood on my father go from the festive man he once was, to a man who carried the burdens of the world on his two broad shoulders. His shimmering eyes turned to stares of longing, and his face once Rosey became a milky white. He would avoid the questions of gifts, festivities, and decorations as if no one had said a word, hiding the very truth that would soon pass through his cracked and dried out lips. All of the school bills, house payments, and vacations had tied him down like a bird chained to a tree. My father witnessed the true burden of Christmas that year when he struggled to provide for everything his children desired. The disappointment was something I was not ready for, yet is something that is inevitable when money is a scarce commodity. Like my father, Walter's accustomed to disappointment on daily basis. Almost daily, his wife, Ruth, shows "it is apparent that life has been little that she expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face” (24). His family has only known disappointment, and it is eating at him, knowing that there is little he can do to help change the current state of his family as a Chauffeur. At one point in my life, my parents never worried about money as much as they do now
It was around Christmas time, a supposedly splendid time to be alive. While Christmas had been a jubilant celebration in years past, I had noticed the mood on my father go from the festive man he once was, to a man who carried the burdens of the world on his two broad shoulders. His shimmering eyes turned to stares of longing, and his face once Rosey became a milky white. He would avoid the questions of gifts, festivities, and decorations as if no one had said a word, hiding the very truth that would soon pass through his cracked and dried out lips. All of the school bills, house payments, and vacations had tied him down like a bird chained to a tree. My father witnessed the true burden of Christmas that year when he struggled to provide for everything his children desired. The disappointment was something I was not ready for, yet is something that is inevitable when money is a scarce commodity. Like my father, Walter's accustomed to disappointment on daily basis. Almost daily, his wife, Ruth, shows "it is apparent that life has been little that she expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face” (24). His family has only known disappointment, and it is eating at him, knowing that there is little he can do to help change the current state of his family as a Chauffeur. At one point in my life, my parents never worried about money as much as they do now