I have to admit it was quite upsetting last time I arrived there, because he started to cry when I came close to him.

He got used to my presence after a day or two though. Just the same, not ideal.

I suppose it was like that for my dad, who used to be away for months at a time in the Navy when we were babies and small kids. I remember, at 2 or 3 years old, seeing him as a kind of Father Xmas figure...appearing now and then, bearing gifts.