“You need to stop listening to that voicemail,” my boyfriend says while placing flowers on my father’s grave. It had been six months since my father cut me out of his life for being gay. I had always known he wouldn’t accept it, but I never imagined he would disown me. It was painful, but I was slowly starting to come to terms with it.
That was until yesterday when I received a letter from a lawyer. My father had passed away and I was not mentioned in his will. I wasn’t surprised, but it still hurt. My boyfriend had been there for me through it all, and I hoped he could help me through this too.
As we walked away from the grave, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. I had lost my father twice, once when he disowned me and again when he died. My boyfriend held me tight, but it only made me feel more alone. My father’s absence would always be felt, but now it was final. The weight of his rejection would always linger, and I knew I would never fully heal from it.
