it like one. It’s not just a Hallmark card. It’s the truth.”
She choked up for a moment but was able to gain her composure.
“I have never known a man as good as you are. You are good right down to your bone marrow. Your words were always kind, even when you were scolding. You always strived to do right by those around you. You had your glory days before me, times I am sure you missed. But you always made me feel…” Logan was crying now. “You always made me feel like my life was your glory days. You looked at me like I was the most amazing thing you’d ever seen. People would say to me, ‘You’re Chuck Lowery’s daughter.’ But if you were standing there you’d say, ‘No. I’m Logan Lowery’s father.’ You made me believe I was important and that I was capable of doing great things.”
She paused again. She could hear people crying louder now, her words clearly meaning something to them.
“There is no light left in me right now. I am destroyed by your sudden absence. But you always told me life isn’t fair. You never minced words and you never made me think I was owed anything that I hadn’t earned myself. You taught me how to be strong, but most importantly, you taught me how to love. To love someone is to want something for them more than you want it for yourself.”
Logan was really crying now.
“Your dreams and mine have almost always coincided. I just always expected you’d be there to see them come true. This is life’s cruel joke on us all. We aren’t guaranteed shit.”
Logan looked at Solomon as she said that.
“I will do my best, just like you taught me to do. I will try out for the Olympics, I will give my best to my country if I am called to serve them. I will continue to give my best to my college and to my mother, the one woman you might have loved more than me.”
She looked at her mother then who was crying loudly now, her Xanax either wearing off or kicking in.
“Thank you for somehow being the father that I got to have. There won’t be an hour that goes by in my life where I won’t think of you. You always said you were grateful for me. But I wish more than anything I could tell you how grateful I was to be yours.”
She was finished. Her heart was broken.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
Chapter Sixteen
Logan
A month after Chuck Lowery had passed and a couple of weeks before Logan’s tryouts at Nationals in San Diego, Solomon asked if Logan would like to go on a proper date.
She’d spent most of her time with her mother the last month, sorting things out with insurance, making sure her mother was eating and taking care of herself. But now she was back in Cincinnati for the second semester of school and it was time, whether she wanted to or not, to get back into a routine.
And Solomon wanted to be part of that routine.
They’d eaten dinner downtown, at a beautiful restaurant that overlooked the Ohio River. They’d talked about easy things first; soccer, judo, the Olympics. Topics that didn’t bring up hard memories.
But Solomon knew it was also time for something else. Time to share something he had never shared with her before.
They sat on one side of a table together, his arm around her as they picked at their calamari.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, kissing her head. “Thanks for coming out with me tonight.”
“Thank you for bringing me out of mourning,” she replied. “I’m sorry. I’ve missed you like crazy but I’ve felt kind of numb since… You know. It’s been hard to wake up again.”
“I understand,” he said. “It’s part of why I wanted to see you.”
Logan looked at Solomon’s handsome face, a face that could easily be on any Men’s Health magazine. She still couldn’t believe he was hers.
“What is it?” she asked.
“My parents died before I was born,” he said. He’d never talked about this. He wished he had a drink… Even though Solomon didn’t consume alcohol. Not while training.
Logan clutched
She choked up for a moment but was able to gain her composure.
“I have never known a man as good as you are. You are good right down to your bone marrow. Your words were always kind, even when you were scolding. You always strived to do right by those around you. You had your glory days before me, times I am sure you missed. But you always made me feel…” Logan was crying now. “You always made me feel like my life was your glory days. You looked at me like I was the most amazing thing you’d ever seen. People would say to me, ‘You’re Chuck Lowery’s daughter.’ But if you were standing there you’d say, ‘No. I’m Logan Lowery’s father.’ You made me believe I was important and that I was capable of doing great things.”
She paused again. She could hear people crying louder now, her words clearly meaning something to them.
“There is no light left in me right now. I am destroyed by your sudden absence. But you always told me life isn’t fair. You never minced words and you never made me think I was owed anything that I hadn’t earned myself. You taught me how to be strong, but most importantly, you taught me how to love. To love someone is to want something for them more than you want it for yourself.”
Logan was really crying now.
“Your dreams and mine have almost always coincided. I just always expected you’d be there to see them come true. This is life’s cruel joke on us all. We aren’t guaranteed shit.”
Logan looked at Solomon as she said that.
“I will do my best, just like you taught me to do. I will try out for the Olympics, I will give my best to my country if I am called to serve them. I will continue to give my best to my college and to my mother, the one woman you might have loved more than me.”
She looked at her mother then who was crying loudly now, her Xanax either wearing off or kicking in.
“Thank you for somehow being the father that I got to have. There won’t be an hour that goes by in my life where I won’t think of you. You always said you were grateful for me. But I wish more than anything I could tell you how grateful I was to be yours.”
She was finished. Her heart was broken.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
Chapter Sixteen
Logan
A month after Chuck Lowery had passed and a couple of weeks before Logan’s tryouts at Nationals in San Diego, Solomon asked if Logan would like to go on a proper date.
She’d spent most of her time with her mother the last month, sorting things out with insurance, making sure her mother was eating and taking care of herself. But now she was back in Cincinnati for the second semester of school and it was time, whether she wanted to or not, to get back into a routine.
And Solomon wanted to be part of that routine.
They’d eaten dinner downtown, at a beautiful restaurant that overlooked the Ohio River. They’d talked about easy things first; soccer, judo, the Olympics. Topics that didn’t bring up hard memories.
But Solomon knew it was also time for something else. Time to share something he had never shared with her before.
They sat on one side of a table together, his arm around her as they picked at their calamari.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, kissing her head. “Thanks for coming out with me tonight.”
“Thank you for bringing me out of mourning,” she replied. “I’m sorry. I’ve missed you like crazy but I’ve felt kind of numb since… You know. It’s been hard to wake up again.”
“I understand,” he said. “It’s part of why I wanted to see you.”
Logan looked at Solomon’s handsome face, a face that could easily be on any Men’s Health magazine. She still couldn’t believe he was hers.
“What is it?” she asked.
“My parents died before I was born,” he said. He’d never talked about this. He wished he had a drink… Even though Solomon didn’t consume alcohol. Not while training.
Logan clutched
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