September 19th
September 19th, 2026
The Hawk Queen Bed
7:00 am
My Father’s Birthday —
Francois Michael Louis Tonetti Hyde
named after The Sculptor
He could never live up 2 —
My Father could play the cello
& sing
& why is it that we must
always list Our Talents?
He married My Mother
(They were Childhood Playmates)
January 30th, 1960
& took His First Child,
Me,
2 Gabon, Africa
where My Brother was conceived
& where My Mother
said She had the worst year
of Her Life.
When I was a teenager
I asked Mom,
“What was Dad’s job in Africa?”
She answered,
“He was teaching Africans
how 2 drive tractors.”
In 1974 My Father went bankrupt
on His dairy farm
in upstate New York
& moved His 2nd Family
2 Tehran, Iran
leaving Me
2 miss My Stepsister Thea
more than I missed My Father —
He left Tehran under evacuation
& wound up
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
working in “The Shipping Business”
for 25 years —
retiring 2 His 2nd Wife’s rundown farmhouse
in Vermont
where He woke up at 4:00 am
2 drive patients 2 hospitals
for casual employment.
Did Eye love My Father?
I guess I did,
butt My Mother tried
2 turn Me against Him
& took Me 2 court w Her
when She was suing Him
for child support
& had His Early American Furniture
sequestrated:
Big Brown pieces
She told Me more than once
She never did like 2 oil
w Lemon Oil
(& She disliked ironing
His white shirts for work)
so why did She marry Him?
I asked Her that 2
& She answered:
“I married Your Father
for 3 Reasons:
2 hold onto My Childhood,
because I loved His Family,
& I couldn’t stand the thought
of anyone else marrying Him.”
Joanna Gilman Hyde 