11 Comments
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Frances Hogg Lochow's avatar

This is well written and heart wrenching. So different from my childhood. I hope your daughter reads it. Sending love from Ecuador....

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John Mendelssohn's avatar

Thanks very much, Franny. Love to you and Robert.

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tecolote42's avatar

Dear heart. Much love 🤗🥰🖖

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Lois Thomson Bowersock's avatar

Your sharing about your dad is very heartfelt. I find it sad that you weren't able to make things right with him before he passed away. Parents have a way of knowing that their children love them, even if there have been some bumps in the journey of the relationship.

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How We Faced the Horsemen's avatar

I understood every word. Thank you. The holy writ that says "Honor thy father....", well that one is the only one with a promise, something I didn't realize til I grew old. I am glad you are still here and glad that I am too.

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Art1Court's avatar

Teach your parents well

Their children's hell will slowly go by

And feed them on your dreams

The one they pick's the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why

If they told you, you would cry

So just look at them and sigh

And know they love you.

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Lenny Cavallaro's avatar

You are not the only person who disappointed one or both parents. As you know, feelings of this sort can sometimes be channeled into fiction. Best of luck with your ongoing reflections, which you convey powerfully.

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John Mendelssohn's avatar

As ever, thanks very much for reading, Lenny.

Statistics have never comforted me. Kowing that 10 billion peope had been awful to their parents wouldn’t make me feel the slightest bit better about having been awful to my own. The world has told me pretty emphatially that it isn’t interested in my fiction. bit.ly/johnnywrites.

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Lenny Cavallaro's avatar

The world isn't interested in my fiction, either, John. However, I shall keep writing: if not for fame, fortune, and glory, simply for the sheer joy of creating something from nothing. The same is true for my musical compositions.

Self-publishing is a marketing game these days. Unless one has the money, skills, and time to put into self-promotion, one's works won't sell. Lacking all three, I am only too well aware of the outcome.

In time, wounds will heal. Please trust me on that. At 77, I know my parents would both be very disappointed in me, but it no longer hurts the way it once did...

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John Mendelssohn's avatar

Far more than money, skills, and time, I think it’s a case of blind luck. We’re the same age, Lenny. Do you have any short stories? We could have an exchange of prisoners. :-)

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Lenny Cavallaro's avatar

Thanks! I'll message you.

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