Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Requiem for a Father

Oh god, how heartbreaking. I lost my own father to cancer eight years ago, and as a result, I am one of those people who shuns father's day now. This story was touching and genuine. Lois' emotions are very real here. You did a beautiful job portraying Lois' feelings and reactions.

My father is eighty-nine years old. He lives in Arizona with his wife of five years. I got to sing at their wedding, and I always make sure I send Christmas and birthday and Father's day cards and gifts. He's no longer able to travel, and he often has difficulty remembering my name when we talk on the phone.

And whenever the phone rings, I wonder on some level if it's not that final call about him.

I'm sorry that some of y'all have lost parents. My mother died at age sixty-six from complications from emphysema due to a lifetime two-pack-a-day habit, so I do understand something of what you're going through. Lois's pain is natural, understandable, and completely human. It's not at all out of character, especially given the poor relationship she had with her father. In fact, more survivors feel cheated by the death of someone close than we're often willing to acknowledge. Her jealousy of Lucy and Lucy's child are also natural and human. And I'm a little surprised that her anger and feeling of being cheated hasn't bled over into her relationship with Clark, because that would also be a natural and human reaction.

But this story isn't finished. We need to see Lois facing her anger. We need to see Lois realizing that even though her father wasn't that great a father, he was still her father, and as such is partly responsible for the person she is today. We need to see her come to grips with her father's imperfections and admit that she loves him despite them. And we need to see Lois admit that despite his faults, he was her daddy and she loved him.

Most of all, we need to see Lois forgive her father for leaving her.

Until she does that, she's going to be hampered in all of her relationships by the leftover feelings from Sam's illness and death. Until she forgives him, she's not going to be able to be at peace with either herself or the rest of her family. And those unresolved feelings are going to impact her relationship with Clark when they finally do have a child, either natural or adopted.

And these feelings won't just go away on their own. They will pop up at obvious times, like Father's day and Christmas and Sam's birthday, but they'll also pop up when she's interviewing subjects for seemingly unrelated stories, when she's picking out clothes for her kids or talking with Clark about their schooling or discussing when the kids should be told about their origin, either their adoption or their Kryptonian heritage.

So, Catharine, we need to see this from Lois. We need to know that she's okay, because right now she's not. We need to know that she's going to make it.

And we need to know all those things about you, too, because we care about you.

well done.

I am blest to still have my dad around healthy and still cracking corny jokes, but reading your story really hit me with a wallop thinking about the first time he isn't here.

Touching story.

You've drawn me out of years of lurkdom to say this was beautiful.

I've experienced the pain of losing our son in May of '01 just before Father's Day (hated it ever since) and then the next Father's Day having the envy over a new nephew after a miscarriage in April of '02. Four years later, we lost my father months after the birth of my daughter. So now I have many reasons to resent Father's Day.

The raw emotions in this drew me out of lurking. It was a cathartic read for me.

Thank you on for writing this...it did make me feel better knowing that I am not the only one who now resents this holiday.

Wow, Cat. That was beautiful and sad. I'm sorry for your loss and think you did a wonderful job of exploring many of the issues we face when a loved one dies, especially for those of us that didn't have stellar relationships in the first place.

BJ

Hi Cat,

You made me cry ... and that's not an easy thing to do, since I've had a lot thrown at me in real life.

Lois' feelings were totally understandable, but I'm with Terry on this, and I'd love to see a sequel. In fact, there is scope for a lot of following-on stories, or one really, really long one.

I too lost my dad when I was fairly young, but I was so much luckier than Lois. I had a wonderful father, who let me know daily how special I was to him.

So, perhaps that was why, when he got very sick, and after long years of illness he couldn't fight to stay alive any longer, I was able to let him go, with love, understanding and the thankfulness that I had had him as a father.

I believe I was blessed, and I hope that Lois too can one day come to see that the good moments you share with a loved one are the ones that matter most.

Thank you for this story, Cat.
Yours Jenni

I knew I would cry when I read this.

I wish I could say more, but it's been too recent.

James

*sniffles*

Poor Lois! You nearly made me cry while reading! It was so well written, that I felt all those raw emotions of her.

So sad. Yet beautiful at the same time.

*huggles*

Sas