Tea With Dad: Finding Myself in My Father's Life

by Nancie Laird Young

Overview

Tea with Dad maps the rough terrain of the author’s life and experiences after moving in with her 82-year-old father and living with him consistently and longer on a day-to-day basis than she ever had as a child. She is surprised by the distance between them and the obvious discomfort the two of them feel. Nancie, the twice-divorced mother of three daughters who no longer live at home, still reeling from the last ten years—during which, among other things, her second husband disclosed that he was gay and her mother unexpectedly died—leaves a well-paying job in online media and rents a house from her father on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her plan is to regroup, write, and live closer to her dad so that she is there to care for him when the time comes. But her own personal circumstances force her to move in with her father far sooner than expected, and not on her own terms. In order to be with and care for her father until the end of his life, she must confront long term and unresolved issues that threaten their getting along. As she finds ways they can reconnect and revise their relationship—specifically through afternoon tea and long car rides—she grows to know him better, she learns more about her mother, and rediscovers herself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950584765
Publisher:	Green Writers Press
Publication date:	06/01/2021
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Nancie Laird Young lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where she writes when not competing with her father for who takes care of whom or “discussing” politics. As a military brat she traveled in Europe, the Far East, and across the United States with her family. She graduated from Georgetown University with concentrations in English Literature and Organizational Behavior and made her way through most of an MBA. She has written about the early days of the internet and worked at washingtonpost.com, LifetimeTV.com, and AOL/Time Warner.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Prologue xvii

Part I

1 Permanent Change of Station 3

2 Packing Up and Moving Out 13

3 The New Kid 22

4 Tea and Toast 27

Part II

5 Mustang 35

6 Temporary Quarters 43

7 New Recruit 50

8 Change of Command 53

9 Maneuvers 58

10 Platoon 62

11 Distaff 68

Part III

12 Dissension in the Ranks 75

13 You and Your Mother 85

14 Don't Ask, Won't Tell 91

Part IV

15 Full Disclosure 99

16 An Unsatisfactory Situation 107

17 Need to Know 126

18 Hail and Farewell 130

19 Situation Normal 134

20 Going Dark 139

21 Let it Come, As it Will 143

22 Taps 152

Part V

23 Relata Refero: All the Stories 161

24 Driving Issues 169

25 Medical Advisory Team 176

26 Cared For, Caretaker 184

27 Bridging the Divide 189

Epilogue: Riding Shotgun 193

Acknowledgments 197

About the Author 201