121. The man was home on leave

to see his wife Maura and two kids, a boy and girl.
...

120. August 1945.

The bombs had just dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
...

119. When the girl first saw the man

in full dress uniform, she knew she would never love another man, ever again.
...

118. Instead, I would rather tell a story,

which takes place before my birth, about a girl and a man.
...

117. My father will NOT be the central character

of this narrative; after all, he has missed my 15th, 16th, and 17th birthdays.
...

116. Okay. For now, you’re off the hook.

But I reserve the right to resurrect, at any time, the second person voice.
...

115. You’ll remember him as the man

who always gave up too soon.
...

114. You don’t remember much about his voice,

except that it dipped in tone at the end of “Mom,” like he knew it and he would be loathed.
...

113. You once found a vinyl record

he and your mother made for your grandparents. In it, he says, “Hi, Mom.”
...

112. Your father’s mind is as blank

as a white sheet of paper.
...

110. Crush long gone, you’ll feel more sorrow

about the man killed in the factory explosion, even though you won’t know him either.
...

109. In 1998, a factory will blow up

at the same moment Donny, Jr., ends his own life with a double-barreled shotgun.
...

108. You do not think that long-lost brothers

ought to be taboo; he will not feel like a blood sibling.
...

107. You will like his beautiful and sweet wife Annie,

but you will still be jealous.
...

106. At 36, he will have large dark eyes

and black bushy eyebrows--you will have a fleeting crush on him.
...

105. You have not yet met Donny, Jr.,

though, at age 30, you will meet him for the first and last time.
...

104. You first met Linda when you were nine,

just after she had her first baby.
...

103. Your mother has, too, cast her sexual net

out to sea: another sister and two more brothers.
...

102. You are a lone child in a sea

of half brothers and sisters, scattered across the country.
...

100. Linda, Donny, Jr., and Scarlett--

in that precise order.
...

99. You know nothing about his sex life,

only that he made three children with two different women.
...

97. You believe they got married,

but you wouldn’t stake your life on that being a verifiable fact.
...

96. She ran off with him when she was 17,

had you at 19. He was 33.
...

95. Your father left his first wife

and two children for your mother.
...

94. When your mother was still in grade school,

he was a sailor, fighting in World War II.
...