Two children. The same father. Two completely different loyalties.

Tom grows up reading one message: “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺.”

Murph grows up reading another: “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵.”

Neither of them is wrong. Neither of them is free.

Because children don’t respond to who a parent is — they respond to who they believe they must become to hold the family together.

That’s how invisible loyalties are born.

Not from what was said, but from what was missing.

From what hurt. From what each child thought love required.

And those loyalties don’t disappear with age.

They quietly shape our choices, our roles, and the lives we keep repeating.

If this stirred something familiar, pause and ask yourself:

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲?

There’s something else happening beneath the surface.

When a father isn’t available, children don’t stop needing one.

They look for substitutes.

Tom finds a father in the grandfather who teaches him how to stay.

Murph finds a father in the professor who teaches her how to think and reach beyond.

Same absence. Different replacements.

And those replacements quietly shape who we become.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰, 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 7𝘣.

Next Thursday: the cost of these loyalties in adulthood.

𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤: 𝘈 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘢