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Oh od My dad’s friend Julian

I used to call hi back then I haven’t seen Julian in a really long time, and I can barely res to say, even after they lost touch and grew apart I think I vaguely re somehow

“I think I remember,” I say

He sounds pleased “I haven’t seen you since you were… oh, god, ten, maybe?”

“Probably,” I say “I called you Uncle Julian back then”

He laughs a little “Yeah, that was your dad’s idea He thought it ht make me want to have kids of my own”

“Did it work?”

“Not at all”

I finda little bit, despite this conversation I’ve had this conversation before, old friends of dad’s calling me up to tell me how sorry they are, to talk about my father, to tell me stories about him I hate this conversation, but I know I have to have it

“Well, how are you?” I ask him

“I’ood Look, Avery, I’m sorry about your dad He was… he was my best friend, back then I miss him like crazy”

“Me too,” I say, surprised at the lu, I still get upset I can still cry about it

“Really, I just wanted to call and see how you were doing”

“I’ an eye on my mom”

“Yeah? I spoke to her yesterday She sounded good”

“I think she’s doing okay She’s handling everything the best she can, anyway They were married for twenty-five years”

“That long, huh?” he asks softly “I guess they were really young”

“Did you know my mom well?”

“Sure We all went to the sah”