Message from the dead

Ok - not the actual dead - from the " dead to me" department.

Lat month, I received a raher stange phone call. It was from someone looking for me. At first, I thought it was a bill collector, and almost hung up. But when I asked why they were looking for this person (me), I got an unexpected response..

Turns out my bio father, (estranged for almost 20 year now), was in trouble with the county for having a messy yard. He was told to get i tclean, and a community group was trying to help him get it all straight. One of them decided to play social worker, and ended up discussing his family - me. He told her that he had lost touch, and wondered if she might be able to find me on the internet.

Mind you, he is very tight with his own mother, and she's had our mailing address (from Xmas cards) for 6 years now.

I gave the lady on the phone permission to give him my address (which he shoudl already have had, or had access to), and figured that'd be the end of it.

Then, a week or two later, cards came. One for each of the boys, and one to me (and my wife).

This is where it gets confusing. The one to me (and the wife) seemed pleasant enough. Lot of hints at self pity, and subtle hidden agendas, but nothing terrible. The one to Logan seemed nice. But the one to Lance struck a nerve. Wording like "Sorry I don't know your name . Maybe someday I can get a picture of you?!" Im reading this going "who the hell is he trying to intimidate? My 2 year old? You want photos, asshole, you talk to the big man - not try a guilt trip on a 2 year old".

I shoudld mention that all 3 cards had NO return address on them. Only a phone number in the one to me. This brings to mind Sun Tsu (The Art of War). Something like "he who can decide the location of victory has an advantage". By not putting a return address on, he's trying to force a phone call. I figure he feels he'll have an advantage over the phone, have a better time at sidestepping issues, and be better able to manipulate the conversation. And perhaps he might. But, if I choose to respond, it will be in a method of my choosing, and it will be in writting.

Im actually suprised to have even gotten the cards. The story I was told goes like this...
This community group is trying to help him clean up his property. He's walking thru it deciding what to scrap and what to keep. There was a small fishing boat that he wanted to keep, and told the lady "I hope to one day take my grandkids out fishign on that boat".

Two things came to mind:

Number one: One time, he was very in the rears with is child support. My mother took him to court (and this was back in the late 70's, when the courts didn't give a shit about enforcing child support). He had a motorcycle, and the judge threatened to take it from him. He beg and pleaded that the bike was old and worthless, and barely worth $1,500. The judge let him keep it, and was they walked out of court, the doors of the court room weren't closed yet, as he turned to my mother and laughed "$1,500 wouldn't even touch the chrome of that bike!"

Number two: He'd be better off getting a blow torch and a seat warmer, cause if he ever takes my boys fishing , it'll be ice fishing. Cause it's gonna be a very cold day in hell.