So...the son was left with a confirmation of anger towards his father. And he was justified. You see, this isn't a tale of two opposites finding their way to a middle ground...it is a tale of a horrible misjudgment, a series of them, which had been forced upon a son who only wanted to have the father as part of his life. The father had made this decision, the son had reached and tried and been rejected. Not to say the son was without fault, for there is truly no such thing...but one can only reach for so long.

Forgiveness was a concept that would need much work on, by the father, to the son. And then the son thought that every person deserves second chances; that there is always time to cure old wounds; that he should reach out to his father now.

But the father had turned his back, erred, feinted at truths and lies, forced mistrust; the father was at fault. And the son knew exactly how the father would respond...as he always had...to turn his back to the world, lashing out to the son as if all was his fault, as if the son was at fault for a lack of forgiveness. More appropriately, however, the son was only responsible for one thing, at fault for one thing: a lack of forgetfulness. There had been lies, deviousness, mistrust, a lie of a family, a lie of caring, a presumed ignorance, a presumed hatred...the father decided these things of the son and acted upon them as if the son had stood on the rooftops proclaiming all these imaginings to the world. The son never had...and the son had not forgotten that. The son never had any reason to forget any of these things...

You see, in this online message, the father had stated that he had a son...and then had gone on to qualify it with this simple line: "This was during my denial years." So the son knew where he stood with the father...in denial, as an error, a mistake, a failed experiment...and that classification, that distinction, was the father's sin and his sin only.

Forgive...but never forget.