My mother was preparing dinner.
My father sat on the terrace with a book, watching the sun sink toward the ocean.
I joined him.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then he closed his book.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
I smiled.
“I’m just thinking about how different everything is.”
He nodded.
“A great deal has changed.”
I looked toward the water.
“Dad, do you think I was foolish to hide who I was?”
He considered the question carefully.
“I think you wanted something genuine. There’s nothing foolish about that.”
“But I made so many mistakes.”
“We all do.”
I looked at him.
He continued.
“The important thing is understanding what those mistakes can teach us.”
I sat quietly for a moment.
Then I said, “I thought if I loved Derek enough, eventually he would love me the same way.”
My father didn’t interrupt.
“I thought being patient was the same as being understanding. I thought accepting disrespect proved that I wasn’t interested in money or status.”
