Dear Prudence,
My daughter just informed me of the death of her father, whom I divorced with much bitterness 10 years ago. The man was a worthless, narcissistic piece of shit who cheated on me repeatedly (including with my sister) and ruined my credit rating, which has only now just begun to recover. My daughter knew never to mention him in my presence and I hadn’t given a thought to the creep in years. Now she is pressuring me to attend the funeral because she insists I need to do so in order to achieve “closure.” I want absolutely nothing to do with him—not in life, not in death. How can I get the message across?
—Good Riddance