Reconnect with an old friend

I got divorced in 2006 but every so often (about once every two years), I still call my ex father-in-law to catch up... In my head, he will be 'dad' forever (he's American and my own father is French so there is no competition for the name as I call my father 'papa'). It's always nice to hear his voice: he was more of a father figure to me than my own father and we have this bound that feels unbreakable and close to unconditional love even if we sometimes do not talk for years (we actually stopped talking for a few years at one point). Once, after not talking for about 4-5 years, i called him on the phone, said hello and he immediately screamed my name... Keeping a little spot for him in my life makes me feel whole in the sense that I am the person that I was and I was the person that i am... this is all me, through thick and thin, through joy and sorrow, through successes and failures, and having a handful of people be witness to the whole ride is making the whole picture make sense and be much brighter.