It’s been widely encouraged for parents and children to communicate well with each other. But what if they just aren’t the talking type?

I’m inspired by one example from a friend of mine. She and her father are the quiet ones in the family. While perfectly articulate when in his corporate world, her father just couldn’t bring himself to talk to her. There was always hesitation from his end, she said. She mirrored this by not talking to him much either, though she did desperately want to build a bond with her father. She sensed he wanted to build a relationship …read more

My sister and her kids took my father out for his 69th birthday last night. I called while they were en route to whatever fabulous restaurant they were going, my father jovial and saying he hopes I can make it there for his “big one” next year. I want to more than he probably realizes. It kills me to be so far away when every other child of his (blood and otherwise) is right there in Memphis with him. This makes me wonder why I moved 350 miles away so many years ago. Was I escaping something?
Perhaps I was. I …read more