Before leaving that evening, Michael asked whether he could visit his father for dinner the following Sunday.
Dennis looked at him carefully.
“Are you coming because you want to see me, or because you want something?”
Michael lowered his eyes.
“Because I want to see you.”
Dennis nodded.
“Then you’re welcome.”
It wasn’t a dramatic reconciliation. There were no grand promises or immediate solutions to their financial problems.
But it was a beginning.
For the first time in years, Michael had to consider what his relationship with his father would look like without money serving as its foundation.
Dennis, meanwhile, began to understand that saying no did not make him a bad father.
It made him a father who finally recognized his own limits.
However, his financial situation remained complicated.
Some of the money he had contributed was gone, and he needed to understand exactly what obligations he had signed up for. If his name appeared on a loan or guarantee, canceling his monthly transfer would not automatically remove him from the legal agreement.
