(Originally posted March 24, 2013)
You got a phone call from your Dad's new wife?
I did. I didn't know what to say at first. But she was so sweet.
She said she wouldn't keep me but that my Dad had lung cancer and he didn't have that much time left.
How did that make you feel?
I was numb.
I know I had spent years mad at him, but it hit me that the last person who was a connection to my past was about to die.
At first I wanted to hang up on Doris, that was Dad's new wife, but everything I had felt toward Dad just left. He no longer was this man who threw me out of my life. He was my Daddy and now he was dying.
I talked to Doris for several hours. Dad was in the hospital overnight. They were giving him chemo and he reacted badly to it. She filled me in on everything that had happened over the past, basically, 12 years.
She told me that she really loved my Dad and that he really wanted to get back in touch with me, but he didn't know how. He had spoken several times to my Aunt and Uncle but they didn't offer any real help. They honestly didn't know what to tell him.Apparently he had once or twice phoned my home but Brian answered the phone and basically reamed him a new asshole and told him to never call back again.
Brian never told me about the calls. That prick.
Doris had helped Dad beat drinking and he had been sober for almost 8 years.
But he was a heavy smoker. He smoked over a pack and a half a day. Seems he replaced booze with smokes.That was his downfall.
So, what did you do?
I agreed to fly back and see Dad.
Doris told me that the doctor's gave him less than six months. I felt I had to go. I had to close that chapter on my life. I had to get rid of the hatred I had for him.
Doris was so happy and she told me that Dad would be so happy to see me.He really wanted to make peace with me before he died.
I felt so bad then and I was so fucking mad at Brian for not letting me know that Dad had called.I wanted to kill him, again.
Did your father know about Zoey?
I don't think so. He was not very close to Aunt She and Uncle Peter and they were his only connection to me. Our family was a little fucked up. They never kept in contact with each other.
Much like your Dad and his siblings. You know what I mean.
(I nodded)
The only thing they had told him was that I had the baby and gave it up for adoption.They really didn't want to say anything else.
Can I ask you about Zoey?
What do you mean?
What was your relationship like with her at this point?
I was her fun Aunt Zara.
