I’d like to share this story in hopes of getting some advice on what others would do in this scenario.

I’ve recently started to reconnect with my dad after 15 years apart. We were apart because of my mother who is severely mentally ill. I’ve had my dad’s number for a long time but in November I decided I should try to reach out. Due to my fear of rejection, my husband reached out on my behalf and had a long conversation with my dad. The conclusion was that my dad was so overwhelmed and emotional because he never thought we’d connect again and he told my husband that he “was not in the right space to speak with” me right now. I really have no idea what that even means and nobody else seems to understand that either. So about a month later in December after not hearing from him yet I decided to text him myself. He ended up calling me and we talked for only about 10 minutes because he had to go to a meeting. When we got off the phone, there was no real conclusions or next steps that were defined. He said “I don’t know where we’re going but we’re going somewhere” and that was it. Since then, we’ve said merry Christmas, and happy New Years to each other and I said to him on New Years that I hope to talk soon. He said we will. That was almost a month ago.

Im trying to respect him and not be pushy. But I’m just not sure what comes next. Do I wait? Do I call him again and ask what’s next? Im just not sure how to navigate this without being too much for him. He has a wife and 3 kids. Just feeling lost. And a little hopeless to be honest.