The best thing your parents ever said

[Bertha Venation]

8. It wasn't what he said, it was what he did.

My father steadfastly refused to acknowledge Mrs. V.' s presence in my life. He never asked about her. Never put her name on his Christmas cards for the first seven years we were together. Then, in 2007, he addressed his Christmas card to both of us. My jaw dropped, and I wept.

Less than a month later, before I could thank him, he was gone.