Nobody's Little Girl

You take good care of him, mama, you hear me? I love you. I love you both. [pause] I'm nobody's little girl anymore.

from Golden Girls; Blanche at her father's grave

Adult Orphans

It might be the natural order of things that parents die before their children, but the sheer inevitability is no cushion to the pain, soul-searching and sheer feeling of rudderlessness that so often follows.

from The peculiar grief of the adult orphan

" When there is no one left who sees you as a child and you have no home to go to when things get rough, it changes how you feel. I am now the one in charge, I can no longer run home to someone. This is my home now. "

from My Husband is an Adult Orphan

Your Joy

Daddy:

From all my memories of you; from all of the old pictures of you with me and my brothers; from all of the letters and e-mails and notes you've ever written...it's obvious that my brothers and I brought you all of the joy in your life - enough joy to live forever.

You would do anything for us, and you always did. You were born to be a dad.

So tell me, Daddy: when did we stop being enough for you? When did we stop bringing enough joy to your life that it was no longer worth living?

After 24 years of being our hero, why did you decide to stop being a dad?

You tell me that.