Chapter 10 - I Had to Face What I Did on the Lawn
Wade deliberately targeted Owen.
He threw the first punch at me.
Those facts did not turn everything I did afterward into perfect self-defense.
I had punched him before he punched me.
Because I saw my child hurt and acted from rage.
Then after Owen revealed the affair, I kicked Wade into the golf rack.
At that moment, Wade was not striking me.
I was furious.
Humiliated.
Protective.
Betrayed.
None of those words erased choice.
When my attorney asked:
“Why did you kick him?”
I answered:
“Because I wanted to.”
That was the truth.
I did not build some heroic story where every violent act became morally clean because I was a father.
I had protected Owen by removing him from danger.
The kick was retaliation.
I accepted consequences for that separately.
Years later, that distinction would become important when Owen asked what happened.
I never wanted him believing:
Dad loved me, therefore Dad was allowed to do anything.
Love should create responsibility.
May you like
Not erase it.
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