there is something so profoundly sad but important about charlie going from “you never carried me up a hill!” to “you never picked me up from school, you didn’t read me bedtime stories, you didn’t carry me on your shoulders…” it’s not just him grieving his father — he went his whole life without one — it’s him grieving the childhood that he never got to have. it’s him yearning for those small things that might seem simple yet are essential. there is something missing inside charlie and even in meeting his father, the void couldn’t be filled because the damage was already done. he’s an adult now and although he has grown significantly as a person and character, he was still deprived of these seemingly trivial things as a child and he can’t just go back in time to experience them. so he’s grieving something he never had. he needed someone to carry him. at least now he has the gang to help lighten the load. there is always hope and the promise of healing, but you have to understand what you’re healing from first.
