father's day 2

from charles mingus' autobiography beneath the underdog:

I'm not using any of the rules. If you hadn't grown up -- in your seventies -- I doubt if I'd be talking to you now. What has the fact that you went to bed with my mother got to do with anything? The only father I have is God. Your only duty was to see me to an age to think for myself. You owe me nothing but the truth of your journey. Some day I may choose another father to teach me and you may choose another son to teach. If I sound loveless and it hurts you, I'm sorry, because then I'm not making myself clear. I'm here because I love you -- it's not your power over me as the author of my being that drew me to you at this age. The man you were once drove me away. What brought me back was your true self, the man I'm talking to today.