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I Didn’t Take My Dad’s Call, and Now I Feel Like Such a Horrible Daughter
A child’s guilt and a woman’s anger intertwine.
My phone screen lit up during a Tuesday rush when I was working through data entry projects. I offered the phone a cursory glance — and then felt my heart shrivel a little in my chest.
It was my dad’s number.
I didn’t answer because I don’t take personal calls during my work shifts. However, since he left a voicemail, I sent him a quick text that I was working and would try to return the call later.
All his voicemail said was that he had just wanted to hear my voice.
Someone else with a different father might have felt sorry and then called back right away.
My eyes flitted to my phone and away, almost as if I were nervous, but I didn’t make the move to return the call.
Why would you do that to your own father?
Why indeed.
Do you want to know why?
I’ll tell you.
There are many sins I lay at my father’s doorstep, but chief among them is this: he did not fulfill his wedding vows to take care of his wife in sickness and in health.