Taking Care of the Father Who Broke My Heart
A personal essay explores the complex experience of caring for an estranged father during his final years in a nursing home. The author reflects on the emotional distance and the process of discovering a side of her father she never knew.
Why it matters
It highlights the universal challenges of caregiving and the emotional complexities of strained family relationships.
I barely knew him. But in the last years of his life, he needed me.
Illustration by Vanessa Saba. Source: Jenisha Watts. August 2, 2026, 7 AM ET Share Save A few hours after Levi Fishback died last month, at a nursing home in Kentucky, the funeral director called me. She needed to know whether the family wanted an open casket. What songs would Levi have wanted? What color flowers? Who should give the eulogies?
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