Here lies a father, p.21
Here Lies a Father, page 21
Then I turned, glancing through the window at the wedding reception in the ballroom. It seemed like a distant world where I watched but they couldn’t see me; they were a movie projected across the spotless window. I was on the outside looking in, but for once it didn’t bother me because I was preparing for my new path. The guests were dancing and swinging delicate champagne flutes. The bride and groom suddenly entered to thunderous applause. They were embarking on a new life together. They were celebrating love and honesty, a new beginning, and, most importantly, a prosperous future for themselves and their family.
The End
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much to Kaylie Jones and Johnny Temple for taking a chance on me. My obsession to share this story started over a decade ago, but I first met Kaylie at Wilkes University in 2013. Without her this book wouldn’t exist. She understood what I was trying do in the very beginning—before I even knew—and she stuck with me for five years of drafting and revising.
My wife Meghan was both my biggest supporter and critic, which was exactly what I needed. She believed in me every step of the way, through the process of earning my MFA (with all of the new student debt) and working to finalize my manuscript these last three years. During the process we had two beautiful children together, and as cliché as it sounds, they’ve opened my eyes to a new world.
And thank you to all of the people who have touched this story with their ideas and feedback, including my Kaylie Jones Books readers Lauren Sharkey and J. Patrick Redmond; my close friends John Arkontaky and Brandi Johnson, for giving me a fresh perspective; my Wilkes residency crew Mike Avishai, April Line, and Autumn Whiltshire; and Sara Pritchard, who taught my first fiction class; and the entire Wilkes faculty.
Mckenzie Cassidy, Here Lies a Father
