I have two family members with whom this very thing has also happened. One is my Father-in-Law whom I adored for well over twenty years until he became Fox News obsessed and religious all of a sudden. I named my son after him and now wish I could take that back. If a person could be a cutting board then my son is that person. I am the person I always was and he is some angry, bitter 87 year old I don't even know. The other is a cousin that I was raised with like a brother, who became religious in our thirties and angry because his beloved father, my beloved uncle, was taken way too soon. He too is an angry, Fox watching religion spewing person I don't recognize except for occasional conversations when I laugh, he laughs, and I almost forget that he wasn't always the person he is now. It makes me sad for them.
This is so beautiful, Kris. My brother and I survived childhood trauma together, and also took completely different life paths. I sat with him in 2021 as he took his last breaths, dying from COVID-19. Most Sundays I wear an old t-shirt of his.
Wow. Just... wow. As a queer adult also estranged from all of my blood relatives except my sons, this one hits hard. Such a beautiful, elegiac piece. Thank you for writing it and being brave enough to share it!
I have two family members with whom this very thing has also happened. One is my Father-in-Law whom I adored for well over twenty years until he became Fox News obsessed and religious all of a sudden. I named my son after him and now wish I could take that back. If a person could be a cutting board then my son is that person. I am the person I always was and he is some angry, bitter 87 year old I don't even know. The other is a cousin that I was raised with like a brother, who became religious in our thirties and angry because his beloved father, my beloved uncle, was taken way too soon. He too is an angry, Fox watching religion spewing person I don't recognize except for occasional conversations when I laugh, he laughs, and I almost forget that he wasn't always the person he is now. It makes me sad for them.
This is so beautiful, Kris. My brother and I survived childhood trauma together, and also took completely different life paths. I sat with him in 2021 as he took his last breaths, dying from COVID-19. Most Sundays I wear an old t-shirt of his.
I love this. Objects like the cutting board can remind us of the bonds that preexist diverging paths. Family is complicated indeed. ❤️
Beautiful words - and, not something I've ever said before, but that really is a very beautiful chopping board!
thank you! I agree it is a beautiful cutting board.
Oh, my heart 🖤💔🖤
Wow. Just... wow. As a queer adult also estranged from all of my blood relatives except my sons, this one hits hard. Such a beautiful, elegiac piece. Thank you for writing it and being brave enough to share it!