I get what you’re saying. I lost my dad when I was 13. Dead from a heart attack outside a family restaurant. His sudden and unexpected departure sucked the air out of my world and left in its place a version of my father that was incomplete. He wasn’t a chatty person, at least not with children. Adults and cocktails and a more social atmosphere was his favored environment. As a result, what I knew of my dad, other than the brief conversations we had and a few trips to the local movie theater, was based primarily on what my mother and others had to say.

But today, he is coming more and more into focus as I peel away aspects of him that were put there by others, who ironically knew him longer than I did, but still managed to not see the real person.

He was a good man by any standards. A flawed man who struggled at times to find himself in a world and at a time, when an outward show of responsibility was all that mattered.

Thanks for your comment on my comment. 😉