He smiled, his eyes sad. “It’s me, your father.”

I felt my breath catch. “My father? No, my father left me when I was two.”

His face fell. “No, that’s not true. I’ve been looking for you all these years. Your grandparents hid you from me.” The man opened his wallet and showed me my childhood photo with a young man I knew as my father. This was the only photo of him I’ve ever seen.

My mind spun. “What? They said you abandoned me.”

He pulled out his phone and showed me text messages. Angry, hurtful words from my grandmother. “They told me to stay away, Sarah. They never wanted me around.”