He [the boy] remembered climbing the steps to the stage with his parents, his father by his side that year instead of with the Nurturers, since it was the year that he would be given a newchild of his own.
It is from The Giver. I have read this sentence 10 times and still can't pin it down. What is said there?
My guess is that the boy went to the stage with his father instead of with the Nurturers. The reason for that was that the Father was receiving a child himself. But then why the word parents was used if only the father accompanied him.