The Cause of it All

I looked over at my father and I could see the look of despair written all over his face. He honestly looked lost. I noticed something fall onto his jeans, then looked at his face to see a single tear streak on his left cheek. In all my twenty years of living, not once had I seen my father shed a single tear. He's the type of man that is completely guarded and shows little emotion when it comes to pain or fear. I hesitated before grabbing his left hand in mine and giving a gentle squeeze.

"I used to hate you, ya know," I waited for him to say something but all I got in return were sniffles, so I kept talking.