The message was slick and perfectly crafted, signed Thomas Higgins.

He’d “followed my career from afar,” he and Karen were “incredibly proud” of my graduation, and he desperately wanted to meet for coffee to “bridge the gap that time and unfortunate circumstances had created.”

I was about to delete it when I ran a quick search on his name. The results explained his sudden paternal interest completely.

Thomas Higgins was running for Mayor. His entire platform was built on “Family Values,” “Overcoming Adversity,” and “Community Support,” and the polls had him neck-and-neck with the incumbent.

He needed a bump. He needed a heartwarming story.

He needed the valedictorian cancer survivor he had secretly abandoned.