“Father Spirit” is an unblinking look into the story of a son’s hopeful effort to connect with his terminally ill father on one last epic journey. When Peter is put into assisted living, Jonathan is unwilling to accept his father’s confinement within the four walls of the nursing home.
Against all odds and conventional wisdom, Jonathan decides to become his father’s caregiver and takes him to one of the world’s most rugged and majestic countries – India – where Jonathan already had friends. As son and father take this uncertain but bold step into a four-month ambitious journey, Peter contends with the late stages of the brutal, degenerative Huntington’s disease.
Navigating cold, mountainous terrain and cities thousands of years old, Jonathan is on his own spiritual journey to come to terms with his father’s accelerating decline and possibly his own fate. During this journey into manhood, Jonathan discovers that he is not only offering his father a rich experience, but has more to learn from Pops in his physical weakness than he could ever have learned from Pops in his strength. However, as Huntington’s widens the chasm between them, Jonathan’s patience is tested beyond what he could ever imagine.
Even though the challenges are enormous and his body is failing him, Peter’s spirit has much to teach Jonathan. One will rethink limitations as Peter para-glides and rides a motorcycle in the Himalayas. Ultimately it’s a tribute to the strength of the human spirit.
