Letter to Dr. Tara Westover,
A dear and precious friend gave me your spell-binding book, Educated - A Memoir, and I finished it a few minutes ago. I will be in her debt for doing so and yours for having the guts to recount your astonishing life’s story. My story is the opposite of yours and I cannot put it down on paper (despite a reasonably decent education - Master's in International Relations). My father deserted my mother and their five children when I was nine or ten years old. I was born in 1931 and he was long gone when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. As he went out the door he said to me, “You are the man of the house now, take care of your mother.”
I have often wondered what my life would have been like had my father carried on as most other fathers do: cherish their wife and guide their children with love. Absent this in your life, I feel your anguish.
Congratulations on finding the strength “to see one’s life through new eyes, and the will to change it” and for your outstanding achievements.
Thank you for Educated - A Memoir.
Sincerely,
Francis
