My father wanted/needed all of the attention and saw me as a threat to his claim to the limelight. I think he was jealous of me from the start. Which took him out of the role of being my father, and was practically no help to me all along the way. And I will never out live (get over) not having had a father. But I may have discovered something better. Me! I became my own father to compensate for having no father available for the role/task.

I became my own keeper. I developed the high qualities of fatherhood: Kindness, Gentleness, Good Humor, Attentiveness, Generosity, Patience, Curiosity, Long Suffering, Funny, Likable, Inquisitive, Well-Grounded, At Home With Myself, and Easy To Get Along With.

I owe everything I am to my Father for failing to be who I needed him to be, and becoming exactly what I needed him to be in order to be who I am.