"I thought, if the little tiny baby, that brought me to tears of joy when I hold it in my arms for the very first time, my little boy, whose first word was Daddy instead of Mommy… If that kiddo was turning against me und beats me to the hospital, then I've done something incredibly wrong."
"When he got out of the hospital he took off. Just took off and never came back."
He left, because he knew his wife hadn't the strength to kick him out. He quit his job at the bar, went into therapy and moved away to Portland. He never tried to contact his wife or his kids, because he knew that he didn't deserve to see them, after what he had done to them.
He set up a rule for himself. That he would never, ever, step into their life's again, not matter how hard it would be for him.
But he was still trying to find out, what his kids we're doing. He found out, his daughter won a price at an Economy Research Competition from her school.
That his eldest son was a surgeon, working not far away from him, in Seattle.
That there was a shooting at his boy's Hospital.
On that day, he broke his own rules. Because his little tiny baby boy, who brought him to tears, was nearly dead, because he wasn't fighting for his life. He had to tell his boy, that he did something good on that day when he beated me. That he needs to fight, because he is a good kid, who deserves to survive.