The Tender Bar

Moehringer visited his mother in Arizona and then flew on to stay with his father for a couple of weeks. He learned that his father, despite conquering his alcoholism in the past, was drinking again, and they bonded by drinking together. Moehringer’s friendly reunion with his father deteriorated one night at his father’s girlfriend’s house. After his father yelled at his girlfriend and her daughter, Moehringer intervened, and his father threatened him with a knife. Moehringer left immediately. He remembers how the incident helped him overcome his habit of idealizing men. Moehringer shares that he later quit drinking altogether, explaining that drinking felt like a form of apathy.

Moehringer provides a somber Epilogue describing how the tragedy of 9/11 affected Manhasset. The town lost over 50 people to the attacks, including Moehringer’s cousin Tim and friend Peter. He recounts how his reporting career had taken him to Denver, Colorado, and then to Los Angeles. It was the events of 9/11 that prompted him to return to Manhasset and grieve with the town. He attended funerals for the people he knew and wrote a story about the town’s experience for his newspaper.

Shortly after this, his father died, and Moehringer made an emotional visit to his grave.