Hi, I'm Willow Belden and you're listening to Out There, the podcast that explores big questions through intimate stories outdoors.

One quick announcement before we get started, we are hiring.

We're looking for someone to join us on a freelance basis

to handle ad sales for the show.

If this sounds up your alley, or if you know someone

who might be interested, you can find the full job description

at our website, out therepodcast.com.

Applications are due January 4th,

and all the info you need to apply is at our website.

And now on to our story for today.

For most of us, family relationships involve some level of tension. We stress out about holiday

visits, we argue with that one problematic relative, we agonize over how to reconcile our

own life choices with our parents' wishes. But what happens when the rift is bigger, when tensions reach a boiling point,

or worse? How do you handle that? Can hatred be extinguished once it's gotten that bad?

Today's story comes to us from a man named Adrian Fernandez, who came to hate his own father

more than anyone else in the world.

I'll let Adrian take it from here.

I didn't always hate my dad.

For most of my childhood, he was my hero, the funniest man I knew, the hard worker, the immigrant

who'd escaped communist Cuba to create a comfortable life and start a

family here in the U.S. He taught me to play football, to fight hard no matter of the odds,

and to always chase my dreams. But then one day, when I was 23 years old, everything changed.

...