My Father Ordered Me to Strip Off My Uniform at His Cookout

Always almost.

He respected Uncle Raymond because Raymond had done the thing Dad built his whole identity around admiring.

But me?

I spoiled the picture.

Too bookish when I was young.

Too thin.

Too quiet.

Later, when I learned how to carry myself, speak when needed, shut up when needed, and do things my father couldn’t imagine, it didn’t fix anything. It continue reading …