Therapy spurred action. Donovan reached out to his dad, fulfilling the dearest wish of his sister Tris, who’d maintained her own relationship, however imperfect, with her father all those years. Tim Donovan was now living in Nashville, cancer-free. Father and son met a few times, and prompted by Landon, started talking about where their relationship had blown off course. One day, they played. Tim was now in a roller-hockey league (a lifetime ago, he’d played semi-pro ice hockey). Landon put on pads and blades and played a full game with Tim, then got beers with the team after. It’s a deeply moving part of the book, and when I mentioned it to Donovan, he pointed proudly to a photo of that day on the shelf behind his desk.
