Justin Werfel

And so I went into the store that day and went to the inexplicable little cardboard puzzle section, see what they had. And oh my God, there was a puzzle there with a photograph of a red Ferrari. And in big letters on the box, it said, your very own sports car, some assembly required. Perfect. could not wait for the next gift-giving occasion to come around.

And when it did, my dad opened the carefully wrapped package I gave him and he looked at it and said, oh, why'd you get me this? And it may have been that some disappointment showed in my face because he handed it back to me and he said, here, you take it. You'll use it. I didn't really. A few years ago, I was thinking about this puzzle. It was so symptomatic.

And when it did, my dad opened the carefully wrapped package I gave him and he looked at it and said, oh, why'd you get me this? And it may have been that some disappointment showed in my face because he handed it back to me and he said, here, you take it. You'll use it. I didn't really. A few years ago, I was thinking about this puzzle. It was so symptomatic.

And when it did, my dad opened the carefully wrapped package I gave him and he looked at it and said, oh, why'd you get me this? And it may have been that some disappointment showed in my face because he handed it back to me and he said, here, you take it. You'll use it. I didn't really. A few years ago, I was thinking about this puzzle. It was so symptomatic.

Of all of the things that I got him over the years that he couldn't stand, that one might have been the best. It was so ideal in so many ways. And it turned out that I wasn't the only one thinking about it. A month later, I was visiting home, and my dad just started talking about it out of the blue, totally unprompted.

Of all of the things that I got him over the years that he couldn't stand, that one might have been the best. It was so ideal in so many ways. And it turned out that I wasn't the only one thinking about it. A month later, I was visiting home, and my dad just started talking about it out of the blue, totally unprompted.

Of all of the things that I got him over the years that he couldn't stand, that one might have been the best. It was so ideal in so many ways. And it turned out that I wasn't the only one thinking about it. A month later, I was visiting home, and my dad just started talking about it out of the blue, totally unprompted.

And the reason this is so weird is, aside from the coincidence of both of us thinking about it around the same time, My dad has the worst memory. He just absolutely remembers nothing. So for him to suddenly start talking about this present after a quarter of a century means that it must have really made an impact on him. And it had.

And the reason this is so weird is, aside from the coincidence of both of us thinking about it around the same time, My dad has the worst memory. He just absolutely remembers nothing. So for him to suddenly start talking about this present after a quarter of a century means that it must have really made an impact on him. And it had.

And the reason this is so weird is, aside from the coincidence of both of us thinking about it around the same time, My dad has the worst memory. He just absolutely remembers nothing. So for him to suddenly start talking about this present after a quarter of a century means that it must have really made an impact on him. And it had.

What he said was, you remember that puzzle of the sports car you got me? That was the worst present. And I said, no, that was the best present. That was your little son who loves you, trying to get you something to please you. He said, OK, I get it. I said, no, you don't. That was the thing you were always saying you wanted. That was me finding a way to make it come true. He said, OK, I get it.

What he said was, you remember that puzzle of the sports car you got me? That was the worst present. And I said, no, that was the best present. That was your little son who loves you, trying to get you something to please you. He said, OK, I get it. I said, no, you don't. That was the thing you were always saying you wanted. That was me finding a way to make it come true. He said, OK, I get it.

What he said was, you remember that puzzle of the sports car you got me? That was the worst present. And I said, no, that was the best present. That was your little son who loves you, trying to get you something to please you. He said, OK, I get it. I said, no, you don't. That was the thing you were always saying you wanted. That was me finding a way to make it come true. He said, OK, I get it.

I said, no. That was connecting my interests to yours, which is a thing you've spent my entire life saying you want to do. Like I said, I'd just been thinking about this. And eventually, I actually got him to change his mind about it, which is yet another thing that never happens. But in this case, eventually he came around to thinking, huh, that actually was a good present after all.

I said, no. That was connecting my interests to yours, which is a thing you've spent my entire life saying you want to do. Like I said, I'd just been thinking about this. And eventually, I actually got him to change his mind about it, which is yet another thing that never happens. But in this case, eventually he came around to thinking, huh, that actually was a good present after all.

I said, no. That was connecting my interests to yours, which is a thing you've spent my entire life saying you want to do. Like I said, I'd just been thinking about this. And eventually, I actually got him to change his mind about it, which is yet another thing that never happens. But in this case, eventually he came around to thinking, huh, that actually was a good present after all.

And huh, what a shame in the way he received it. And what a lost opportunity. Well, I've always been organized. And when I grew up and moved out, over time, most of the stuff got moved out of my room. But a lot of it really just got moved down to the basement.

And huh, what a shame in the way he received it. And what a lost opportunity. Well, I've always been organized. And when I grew up and moved out, over time, most of the stuff got moved out of my room. But a lot of it really just got moved down to the basement.

And huh, what a shame in the way he received it. And what a lost opportunity. Well, I've always been organized. And when I grew up and moved out, over time, most of the stuff got moved out of my room. But a lot of it really just got moved down to the basement.

So that night, I went down to the basement, and I found my old little chest of drawers, and I opened the bottom drawer where I kept my puzzle collection, and there it was, where I'd put it, when he gave it back. So when the next gift-giving occasion came around, my dad opened the carefully wrapped package I gave him. And this time, he got it. He keeps it on his desk now.