dad.” “You have your dad’s smile.”
“You’re clean and tidy like your
father.” I never turned to bitterness,
because she made sure I knew his
absence was because of
circumstance and not a lack of love.
She always told me the story of her
coming home from the hospital and
my dad saying, “Where’s my kid? I
want that kid in my life.” She’d say
to me, “Don’t ever forget: He chose
you.” And, ultimately, when I
turned twenty-four, it was my mom
who made me track him down.
Because my father is so private,
finding him was hard work. We
didn’t have an address. He wasn’t in