I want my dad to know who I am before he dies

rithikakorrapolu.substack.com · 1,740 words · saved by 1 readers

“You know your dad talks about you all the time. He’s always telling me about you and your brother’s accomplishments. He’s so proud of you.” I grew up my whole life hearing variations of this statement. I used to be so embarrassed - it’s pretty cringe when your dad is constantly trying to brag about you at work, at parties, and to random brown families at the grocery store. My brother and I used to get so mad at him, begging him to stop and even avoiding him at times. I wish I recognized earlier that it came from pure love. My dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 thyroid cancer the winter of my freshman year of high school. 95% of people who had similar conditions died within 2 years of the diagnosis. My biggest and most vocal fan wouldn’t even get to see me graduate high school. When my dad was diagnosed, I became very aware of the fact that he might die without knowing who I really was. Neither of my parents did. Like a lot of my friends with immigrant parents, I had quite a different pers

Hi Team, I wrote this back in Feb, 2023 but publishing it here now. With love, Rithika “You know your dad talks about you all the time. He’s always telling me about you and your brother’s accomplishments. He’s so proud of you.” I grew up my whole life hearing variations of this statement. I used to be so embarrassed - it’s pretty cringe when your dad is constantly trying to brag about you at work, at parties, and to random brown families at the grocery store. My brother and I used to get so mad at him, begging him to stop and even avoiding him at times. I wish I recognized earlier that…

I want my dad to know who I am before he dies

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