Member-only story
The Secrets I Learned About My Famous Dad After His Death
My dad told me almost everything to prevent me from finding out one thing
As I wrote the title of my story, I feel his anger from beyond. He did everything he could to keep me from knowing this, let alone the world.
The world has changed since you left. The shame you carried with you all your life might not have been why you got brain cancer, but I don’t think it helped.
I’m writing this because I’ve recently gained perspective regarding the things you did and why you did them.
His methods were deliberately obtuse.
My father’s strategy for hiding things is best explained by the Playboy’s in his armoire. He left them at perfect eye level for a 9-year-old. Strategically placed. Those served to satisfy my curiosity so I wouldn’t go snooping and find the good dirty magazines he hid in the practice putting green in his closet.
He overshared certain parts of his life to keep me from knowing the truth about others.
