As a young man, Al was a skilled artist, with a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son developed a serious stomachache. Neither Al nor his wife took it very seriously. But the boy died suddenly that night.
The death could have been avoided if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, so Al always felt he was guilty(内疚). To make matters worse, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain were more than Al could stand, and he turned to alcohol(酒精) for help.
Al began to lose everything he had—his land, house, etc. Finally Al died alone in a small bar. Hearing of Al’s death, I thought, “What a complete failure(失败)!”
I knew Al’s now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I saw the love between Ernie and his children, thinking that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.
I hadn’t heard Ernie talked much about his father. One day, I worked up my courage to ask him what on earth his father had done so that he became such a special person. Ernie said quietly, “As a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ‘Love you, son.’”
Tears came to my eyes as I realized that I had been a fool to tell Al as a failure. He had been a kind loving father, and left behind his best love.
根据短文内容判断正(T)误(F)。
At first there were four people in Al’s family.
Al always felt he was guilty because his wife left him.
Al sold everything he had—his land, house to drink alcohol.
Ernie was a complete failure just like his father.
At the end of the story, the writer thought Al was a loving father.