We did right by him, my brothers and me. That’s the ghost that hung in the air between us from February, when Dad called to tell me he was dying, until June, when the ALS reached his lungs and stopped his breathing. I knew it, Dave knew it, Eric knew it, and Dad knew it: We did right by him as his children, even though he didn’t do right by us as our father. He kept asking, “I did all right, didn’t I? I wasn’t perfect, but I was okay.” Sure, we’d tell him. You were a good father. It was only when we weren’t around him that we shook our heads in disbelief at the way a man can lie to himself.
Read the whole incredible thing--particularly if you've ever had to put on a brave face and tell a parent who needed to hear it that they "did all right," even if maybe they didn't.
4 comments:
Very moving post, Meryl. (I know I coulda posted it there, but I was too intimidated to.)
Why intimidated? Is my comments policy that strong?
That might explain why fewer people comment on my blog than you'd think.
Come on, Margi, Meryl can't help that she's a badass. :)
I am not a badass. Apparently, I suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder. Which is better than suffering from OPD (Obnoxious Personality Disorder) that was first diagnosed on Designing Women.
Okay, no, I really don't have BPD, either. I just have anger issues.
I'm a lot calmer now than I was in my twenties.
No, really.
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