You Gave Me a Beautiful Lie
I sold the house in Tucson.
I did not keep a single thing from it.
I had the shed torn down and the cellar filled with concrete and the whole property signed away, and I felt nothing but relief watching it go, because it had never been a home, only a set for a lie.
With what it brought I did the thing my father would never have asked for: I made sure he would never want for anything again, would never spend another night anywhere but in comfort and safety and light, for whatever years he had left.
He protested.
I did not let him win.