I woke up one morning to my mom’s crying. She said, “John, your dad is gone. He left us,” and hugged me. She was holding a piece of paper. It said, “I’m tired of both of you.” This was Dad’s goodbye note. For years, I had a recurring dream where my dad was saying to me, “I’m tired of you.” I missed him a lot, but at the same time, I hated him for leaving us like that. Six years later, I came home from school one day and saw my dad eating at the kitchen table. When he saw me, he stood up with a smile on his face. He opened his arms and waited for me to give him a hug.
