When my estranged father, who left 20 years ago, called from his deathbed, I was torn between anger and curiosity. His final wish revealed shocking truths.
I was getting ready for bed when an unfamiliar number called, followed by a text: “ALICE, THIS IS YOUR DAD. PLEASE CALL, I AM IN THE HOSPITAL.” My heart stopped. Dad? After twenty years? Curiosity won, and I called back.
“Dad?”
“Alice, it’s me. I… I don’t have much time.”
“Why are you calling now?”
“I need to explain… to ask something of you. But please, don’t tell your mother.” He revealed that my grandfather paid him to disappear because he thought Dad was a failure. “I took the money to secure your future.”
“Why didn’t you come back?”
“I couldn’t. But I watched from a distance, saw your graduation, your volleyball games.”
I felt my world tilt. “Why didn’t Mom tell me?”
“Maybe she thought she was protecting you.”
“What do you want now?”
“I need to see you, Alice. One last time before I go.”
I decided to go. At the hospital, he looked frail. “Alice,” he whispered.
“Why did you do it, Dad?”
“I thought it was the best way to secure a future for you. I wrote letters every year. They’re in a safety deposit box.”
After his death, I found the letters. They were filled with his regrets and love. I confronted Mom, who admitted she thought it was best for me too.
In the end, I used the money to start a scholarship fund in his name, honoring his memory and sacrifices.
When No One Stepped Up, This Brave High Schooler Did the Unthinkable During the National Anthem!
There are few things that get people excited like a passionate performance of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Just ask anyone who watched Jackson Dean Nicholson, a senior at Arundel High School in Maryland, a few years ago.
We’re not talking about his performance on the football field, but his pre-game singing of the national anthem. He wowed the home crowd and thousands of people online.
According to reports, Nicholson realized no one else was ready to sing the national anthem before his school’s game. He could have let the school play a recording or let the crowd sing themselves.
But Nicholson did something different. Before the game started, he stood alone on the field with just an acoustic guitar and a microphone and sang the national anthem.
He quickly delivered one of the best versions of the U.S. national anthem we’ve ever heard. It’s no surprise that the video became a viral hit and has resurfaced in popularity time and time again.
The video was first uploaded in 2018, and the fact that it’s still impressive now shows just how well Nicholson can sing.
“It was very cool. I probably knew 90 percent of the people sitting in those stands, and they had no idea I was doing it until I brought my guitar out,” Nicholson told the Baltimore Sun at the time.
While he was playing as a senior defensive end during his five minutes of fame, music is Nicholson’s true passion. He has been writing and singing songs since he was a freshman and was working on his own album around the same time he went viral.
Since there’s already a famous actor named Jack Nicholson, he chose the stage name Jackson Dean.
Talking about his football career in 2018, Jackson said: “This is my last year, then I’m done. I’ve got until January, I’ll have all my credits done, and I only have to be enrolled for this semester. I got a waiver from my principal and she’s very supportive of what I do. I’m going to go for it.”
Good luck, Jackson!
We can’t get over how amazing Jackson’s performance was, and we want as many people as possible to see it.
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