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sallie reynolds's avatar

You manage so beautifully to get a whole biography, with side characters, in just a few lines. I feel as though I met your dad. That is, I recognize him, but probably no one knew him. And no one was ever what he wanted. What would a note tell us, us survivors of our father's suicides? "So there!"? "It's your fault!"? "Take that!"? "I didn't love you enough."?

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Jerry's avatar

A difficult read. But true for too many. My parents weren’t ready, 20 and 15. A guy home from the war and a child. Grandpa was quiet and distant, like Dad, like me. Mom grew into her role. Dad and went fishing and hunting. They never came to my sports games. Later, he would ask how my car was running. He cared. I held his hand when he died. I cried.

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