A Softer, Gentler, and More Benign Father...

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Dad's cell phone was out of service today so I took a gamble and called the landline. That's mom's territory. He immediately picked up the phone to my relief.

"I don't know what the hell is wrong with my phone today!" he said sounding frustrated and agitated.

He was like a babe lost in the woods.

"Can I come and get my Cokes?"  I asked my father rather timidly with lots of hope,

"Sure! Come on over," he said, sounding very congenial. "We'll take your medications as well."

"Could it be that easy? That was easy!" I thought to myself gobsmacked.

Dad was fixing to leave to go talk to his lawyer about my mother's legal matters. This didn't stop us from having a good and lengthy conversation beforehand. Dad was talking about sex today and wanted to know the first girl I slept with and how old I was.

"It was Denise," I told my father rather embarrassingly. "And I thought she hung the moon. I must have been 17 years old."