What My Mother’s Goodbye Taught Me About My Dad

My mom left me for another man when I was 11. My dad raised me. He wasn’t perfect, but he was steady — at every parent-teacher conference, on the sidelines of every game, and during the nights when I had more questions than answers about why she had gone.Last week, out of the blue, she called. Her voice was weaker than I remembered. She told me she was very sick and asked if she could come back.