After a year, we moved out of that home, and he drifted away again. This time to the mountains, so he could “be free,” in his words. I did the same, in my own way. And life just sort of moved along for everyone. I left to Nebraska for college. My grandma dated men who showed up to my games. And I started telling myself that was enough. Around this time, I stopped being Eric Smith and became Eric Morrison-Smith. I used to tell the story like it was about honoring two family lines. But the truth is — it was also anger. It was me distancing myself. It was me taking back control of who got to claim me. It was, in some ways, a “fuck you” to both of the men in my life. Neither of you get to claim me as yours alone. I get to make my own path. But it was a weird way of holding both sides of my family close, while also pushing them away.