A Half Hour a Day

My father left my mother when I was two, moved 3,ooo miles away when I was eight, and left my life entirely when I was 12.  On this Father’s Day, I want to thank him, wherever he is, for leaving.  It was a selfish act at the time, but his absence gave the other fathers in my life the opportunity to be what he could not be, and in effect make me a better person than I would have been under his influence.  I am eternally grateful, this Father’s Day, for all the other men in my life who have been my guides, my support, my teachers, mentors, and my loves. 

First, the man who is Dad to me.  He married my mother when I was four, and was determined to be a father to me in every sense of the word, from unconditional love, to discipline, to being there…