page 22 of 30												index

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For the first 

		time that I could remember, 
		
		I hugged my father. 
		
		I held his hand 
		more in those last few days 
		than I had in a previous lifetime. 
		
		This was an entirely new vocabulary of touch. 
		
		It was invented on my terms, 
		not his, 
		but clearly he accepted 
		and wanted it.
		
		
		
In those last . . .