The only punishment I
remember, and there was no spanking involved.
With all the
talk about Adrian Peterson beating his 4
year old child with a tree branch, I was thinking about my childhood and How my
parents punished my sister and I when we were young children. Now it has been a
long time since I was a young boy but there is one punishment that was given to
me by my father that I will never forget! But before I get into that, I think
it’s important to give a small snapshot of how I remember growing up.
My sister and
I were very lucky. We had two great parents that, as I think back now seemed to
live their lives with one purpose, to give their children everything they
could. My dad was a very hard working man and my mom worked but was always
there when my sister and I came home from school. As a boy my father was bigger than life to me.
We did everything together, and growing up in Inglewood Ca. a suburb of Los
Angeles, I of course was a huge Dodger fan. The company my dad worked for had
season tickets to the Dodgers so we were able to go often.
I loved going to the
games. When I was around 10 years old we moved to Anaheim Ca. Very close to
Disneyland and where the Angels played, but my dad knew how much I loved the
Dodgers, so he often drove 35 miles to work, after a day’s work, he drove 35
miles home, picked up my mom, my sister and myself, drove 40 miles to Glendale
Ca. picked up my Grandma (who was a huge Dodger Fan) drove to Dodger Stadium
and then back to Anaheim. I guess I never appreciated all this until he was
gone. As you can tell with a name like Cantelmo we are Italian, or like my dad
used to say “we are Americans of Italian Decent”. Being Italian there was never
a dull moment and no quiet moments either. I miss all the yelling now, especially
on weekends when all the family gathered at my grandma’s home. Things are much
too quiet now. My mom did not punish us, she did most of the yelling and of
course always said “wait until your father comes home” when she wanted to let
us know when we were in trouble. I never remember getting spanked unless it was
the gym teacher with his paddle. If I did get spanked by my parents it wasn’t
often and not memorable and I guarantee there was no tree branch involved. We were
not rich, but my sister and I never lacked for anything and my parents never
shared their problems with us. I wanted to share this with you before I talked
about the punishment that I remember, because even though I am not a parent, I
see the way children today seem to be burdened with with things that I never
thought about as a young boy, and your parents should be the one thing you
should always be able to count on to give you comfort. I know my parents were!
Ok, here it
it:
The one
punishment that I do remember to this day, and made the most impact on me was
this.
I was in the
front yard with my dad and I don’t remember why, but I ran across the street
without looking. My dad called me back to him, and explained why what I did was
wrong and how I could get hurt or killed. Then he made me look both ways and cross
the street while he watched. He made me repeat this act not once, not twice,
but 100 times looking both ways every time while he watched and made sure I did
it correct. Now this was not a busy street, it was a small neighborhood street
but I never forgot the lesson. I guess my dad could have yelled at me and
swatted me on the rump, but he took the time to make sure I learned the lesson.
I think about that time in my life and how lucky I was to have a father who
took the time with me. My dad only stood 5’9” but to me he was a Giant. Most people think I named my company (A.D.
Cantelmo Realty) after myself, but I named it for my father A.D. Cantelmo SR..
.
I wonder if
Adrian Peterson’s son will think of him as a giant, or just a monster!