poco a poco

poco a poco

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Grieving What Could Have Been

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Jen Cook
Jul 24, 2025
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brown wooden bench on green grass field during daytime
Photo by Ann on Unsplash

At the end of May, I got a Facebook message I’d been expecting for years. It was my cousin reaching out to let me know my father was in the hospital and — as it turns out — on his deathbed.

My father (we’ll call him Dan) wasn’t a likable man. He was mean, arrogant, and manipulative. Dan walked out on my family when I was a young t…

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