(Inspired by the episode "Sons and Bowlers.")

Miles Apart in the Same Room

My father's a good man. He cares about me, always provided for me. But there's no real warmth to our relationship. I can't remember us ever sharing an embrace. Oh, perhaps when I was very young. But not in recent memory. Sent me off to college with a handshake. Said goodbye as I left for war with a crisp salute.

There's love between us, of course there is. But there's a disconnect, a distance, too.

I watch Pierce making his calls and I feel a kind of envy. "Where I have a father," I tell him, "you have a dad."