📖 The List by the Bedside

Chapter 1 – Heavy Mornings

Paul was 52 years old.
Every morning, he woke up with the same feeling: that he had wasted his life.

A job he no longer cared for, a marriage broken long ago, children who had moved on with their own lives and rarely called.
He felt useless, like a chapter no one bothered to reread.

The alarm rang, and Paul got up mechanically, without desire, without joy.
— “What’s the point? Everything good is already behind me.”

Chapter 2 – The Messy Room

One Sunday afternoon, he decided to clean his room.
A simple act, but almost symbolic: putting order where chaos had reigned.

Under the bed, stuck between two boxes, he found an old tin box.

Inside: yellowed photographs, a few children’s drawings, and… a small folded sheet of paper, worn out with time.

Curious, he unfolded it.

Chapter 3 – The List

On that crumpled piece of paper, written in a child’s clumsy handwriting, he read:

“Things I love about Dad”

• When you read me bedtime stories

• When you take me to see the Christmas lights

• When you make me laugh with your funny faces

• When you teach me how to ride a bike

• When you hug me tight and I can hear your heart beating

• When you say you’re proud of me

• When you kiss me even when I’m naughty

• When you sing off-key in the car but keep singing anyway

• When we walk by the sea and you pick up seashells with me

• When you make fried eggs on Sunday mornings

• When you play tennis and I watch you run all over the court

And, all the way at the bottom, a line added in uneven handwriting:

“My dad is the best dad in the world even when he’s tired, because when he’s tired it’s cuddle time, and I love cuddles.”

Chapter 4 – The Broken Mirror

Paul froze.
His eyes blurred.
Every word echoed like a gentle slap, a brutal reminder: he had been loved.

This paper didn’t talk about social success, a brilliant career, or money earned.
It spoke of laughter, walks, kitchen smells, simple gestures, tenderness.

That—that—was his real wealth.

Chapter 5 – Tears and a Promise

He sat on the edge of his bed, the paper pressed against his chest. Tears streamed down, but they weren’t only of pain.
They were tears of release.

He told himself he still had time.
Time to be present. To love again. To laugh.

And maybe, just maybe, to write his own new list.
Not of what he had lost… but of what he still had.

Chapter 6 – A New Morning

The next day, for the first time in years, Paul woke up differently.
The heaviness hadn’t completely gone, but something else was there: a fragile flame.

He sent a message to his son:
“I found a treasure yesterday. An old list you wrote when you were little. Thank you for making me your dad. Can we meet soon?”

Seconds later, the reply came:
“Of course. I miss you, Dad.”

Paul smiled.
And understood that sometimes, it only takes a forgotten scrap of paper to remind you that you were once someone’s greatest treasure.

✨ Moral:
We often believe love is measured in grand achievements.
But for those who truly love us, it’s the small gestures that mean the most.