Precious Christmas Memories

I'm starting to feel like I've had much more precious Christmas memories than most people. And my Pop is Buddhist!

"I don't like Christmas" said the middle aged man in the sauna. He rubbed his poorly grown five o' clock shadow. Youthful in spirit, seemed a cloud washed over him.
"How the fuck do you not like Christmas?" I prodded.
He hesitated...Then...
"My step-dad loved baseball and was the sport he was good at. When I was 12 I was diagnosed with a lazy eye, so I was forced to wear an eyepatch to make the lazy one stronger. When the day finally came where I didn't have to wear the patch anymore, the step-dad demanded I take up little league. I hated sports. Against me and Mom's protest, he forced me onto the field. Annnnnd he was the baseball coach. Having astigmatism meant I had zero depth perception. The first at bat, I struck out. What could I do? Can't see the thing. He called me every name in the book. And ended it with the word "loser." And by the way, this was in front of everyone. The other kids, the parents in the stands. There was actually another parent who came down from the stands to tell him to lighten up. It was possible he was hung over or still drunk. The next day I quit. And I asked Mom what sport he hated the most. She said it was soccer. That's what I signed up for. And he never showed up to any of my games. Ever. Again. Now this is just any other day, what do you think Christmas was like?"

I sat in the sauna scratching my head, confused how someone could treat anyone this way. Especially when we constantly say that our best resources are our children. It turns out the man's father was the same way. In fact he continued...
"the best day was the one day where we got into some weird fight, and I said he was just like his Dad. He punched me right in the face" he smiled, rubbing his jaw, as if he was still feeling the sting, but then he smiled "because later that night Mom told me he was crying. He'd never cried about anything, and I made him cry. Because the worst thing that he could ever be accused of was being compared to the man who tormented him."
Merry Christmas.