Some of the most unpleasant moments in life come when we have to
face the fact that our parents are human and mortal. For me the
revelations came in quick succession. They really rocked me, though
I think I concealed my shock at the time.
I grew up believing my father a demigod. In an offhand way I
knew he was mortal, but it simply never occurred to me that he
could be killed. I suppose I should thank my uncle for removing
those scales from my eyes.
I have only my father to thank, or blame, for making me realize
that even the wise and noble Gneaus Julius Storm could be petty,
arrogant, blind, unnecessarily cruel, and maybe even a little
stupid. This latter revelation touched me far more deeply than did
the other. After all, we all begin life under sentence of death.
But nowhere is it written that our time on death row is to be spent
compounding the idiocies and miseries of our fellow condemned.
Though I did not love him less afterward, I lost my awe of my
father after witnessing his brush with my uncle. For a time just
his presence made me suffer.
The loss of an illusion is a painful thing.
Some of the most unpleasant moments in life come when we have to
face the fact that our parents are human and mortal. For me the
revelations came in quick succession. They really rocked me, though
I think I concealed my shock at the time.
I grew up believing my father a demigod. In an offhand way I
knew he was mortal, but it simply never occurred to me that he
could be killed. I suppose I should thank my uncle for removing
those scales from my eyes.
I have only my father to thank, or blame, for making me realize
that even the wise and noble Gneaus Julius Storm could be petty,
arrogant, blind, unnecessarily cruel, and maybe even a little
stupid. This latter revelation touched me far more deeply than did
the other. After all, we all begin life under sentence of death.
But nowhere is it written that our time on death row is to be spent
compounding the idiocies and miseries of our fellow condemned.
Though I did not love him less afterward, I lost my awe of my
father after witnessing his brush with my uncle. For a time just
his presence made me suffer.
The loss of an illusion is a painful thing.