My Dad Left Hawaii at 20 and Never Went Back – Then an Unexpected Package from His Past Made My Mother Go Pale
I tipped it sideways.
One word.
Uneven letters carved deeply into the wood.
GILBERT
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I covered my mouth.
Dad’s name.
Not written recently.
Carved there long enough ago that the grooves had darkened with the rest of the wood.
Uneven letters carved deeply into the wood.
“Dad,” I whispered, staring at the chair, “what are we supposed to do with this?”
Mom began crying.
She pressed her fingertips against her eyes and sat there while I waited.
Finally, she said, “That was his chair.”
“Where?”
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“In Hawaii.”
Mom began crying.
“I figured that part out.”
She looked at me.
“Your father didn’t grow up the way you think he did.”
***
Life in Dad’s childhood home had become unstable when he was a teenager.
Mom didn’t give me every detail.
“Your father didn’t grow up the way you think he did.”
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Dad hadn’t given them to her either.
