Father's Day bothered me when I was a kid. In fourth grade I remember everyone making Father's Day cards in school. Someone asked me "What are you getting your dad for Father's Day?"

I never knew how to answer. I couldn't bring myself to say he was dead because my family talked about death in whispers, as if it was something to be ashamed of.

So I just said "I don't have a father."

I'd play along and make a card for my grandfather but I never gave it to him. He wasn't well-liked in my house. He was mean to his daughter, my newly widowed mother.