This piece was originally posted on Quora in response to this question. I wanted to re-post it here, as a part of my own history and that of my family. It contains some painful and personal/family details, for which I may incur the wrath of my relatives if they should happen to read this. For this, I apologize. But somehow I needed to tell it. It may also explain to some people why I have not responded to your condolences or attempts to reminisce about my father in the past year. For that, I also apologize.
In many ways, this is the "other side" to this.