SEND ME ON MY WAY
a whole lot of mess, and a whole lot of a lack of posts.
March 11, 2011
Adrian
The fact of the matter is, I spent 18 dollars on a Star Wars poster that I never put on my wall, one which I know I won't put up now, since I only have a few more weeks left of class.
What grasped my attention today though was the two bottles of soaps that I have next to my window; barely used, but ones which I would never throw away. The scent is green grass, one I attach to spring time and cleanliness, but one which I never would use on myself. Yet, once again, I would never throw them away. Now, of course, I managed to find a sort of sentimental value in them, but for good reason. I received these soaps from my father for Christmas. Now, my father is, and always will be a good man. I love him with all my heart, and yet, whenever I think of him it always seems to make my chest curl into twists, and my eyes water. As much as I love him, he breaks my heart.
I wasn't too keen on the two soaps when I first got them; one a body wash, the other a sugar scrub to use to get rid of old skin and the like. They came with a louffa, though one that I wouldn't use on a regular basis; to be frank, the entire thing was a bit of a waste on me. I felt sort of sad that he got it for me, because days before Christmas he was asking me what to get, and I really had no idea. No idea at all.
Christmas was the day I received three hundred dollars from my father, which I spent frivilously the next day on boxing day sales on dresses and a new sweater, both of which I adore and wear often; but not the year I received two soaps.
Now, this isn't to say that my father hasn't been a good gift giver. He's definitely had his positive moments. This was the same year he purchased me a beautiful red pea coat, one he picked out himself, just for me. To my own disappointment, it was too snug, and I promised I would return it, but I never had the heart at the time. I wished I could fit into it, because I knew my dad had picked it out all by himself knowing that I would love it, and it broke my heart that I couldn't fit into it. I left it behind when I returned to university, promising myself that I'd return it on my own the next time I came to visit.
My father and I had lunch a few days later, and he brought me up to his office in the same city as my school, revealing to me a new pea coat, a grey colour that fit me much better. He informed me that he had picked up my red coat from my mother's place, and had returned it himself, using the credit and a Boxing Day sale to purchase me this one, one which he liked just as much.
...it's my favourite coat.
But that would be besides the point; the point of the two soaps sitting on my shelf next to my window. These... obviously are not his best gifts. Far from. In fact, they were so cumbersome, he'd left the large price tag on them. 20 dollars for the soaps and the louffa, and the next time I was out at the store I saw that the set was on sale for ten dollars now. This, this is the reason I keep the soaps.
My father and I had a strained relationship for a very long time. As a teenager I struggled with accepting his alcoholism, refusing that it was an acceptable part of his personality, and finding flaw in it whenever I could. I found every moment I could to hold against him; the time he threw a watermelon at me because I wouldn't listen, and hid in his car for hours until he would drive me home. The time he broke down with my sister, crying his eyes out begging me not to leave his house, claiming that he would commit suicide if I would. I left the house, into my mother's own empty one, heart broken at what I had done to my father. While I didn't accept his alcoholic tendencies, to the point of two other circumstances where I went back to visiting him, and then refused for months, I hurt him more than I realized I could.
As I get older, I come to terms with the fact that yes, my father is an alcoholic who drinks. Frankly, there's nothing I can do about that fact. However, what I can do is try to mend what I had broken in my own frustrations with not accepting who he is along with that fact; my dad. His drinking never changed that he always dressed me in Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls and took me to the park when I was a baby; that he drove with me to Nova Scotia every year to visit family, and bought me my first Nintendo 64. He was the man who didn't sell his car, but instead gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday (without asking my mother, funnily enough), who did everything he could to be the best father he could, in whatever ways he could create at the time.
And I? I ran away from him, insulted by the circumstances created by an addiction that he cannot control.
These days? I have lunch with my dad every two weeks. We go out and we talk school and business; he gives me money for my education and free spending, and I try to do well in school and make him proud. My dad and I are heading out every so often now; he's giving me driving lessons since I finally got my G1 a few weeks ago. We're good, we're getting better.
For the longest time, I was terrified that the day I head down my wedding aisle I wouldn't have my dad with me. That he'd be dead; he'd have committed suicide because of his depression, or he'd drink himself to death. Today, I know with confidence that he'll always be there. My dad will be there until he hits old age, proud to be there, and proud of me.
And you know what? I'll be proud of him, too.
February 1, 2011
January 11, 2011
August 29, 2010
June 19, 2010
fuck.
June 14, 2010
reflection
Looking back onto my free writes over the semester, I see a slowly developing process. At first, it’s easy to see how unsure I was about what I was writing. More than anything, my free writes were like journals- recollecting on my life, showing me how I felt. My life felt more and more like a story the more I read it. However, as I passed on over time, the development is clear. Looking at the flow of entries, I see how my writing changed to develop stories and theories, opinions and thoughts into small, poetic pieces. Each paragraph resounds into a different part of me, and I can remember exactly how I felt each time, how much my heart ached, or my mind soared to argue. My feelings developed from angry moments where I recollected about my day into ideas about the world around me, my writing style losing etiquette, but in a way I was very comfortable with. And while I may have lost that skill, to a degree, it relaxed my style of writing. I feel so much more confident about all that I write about, having the ability to write at any spur of the moment and be proud of my work. It’s why I put my work on a blog. I am proud of my work, and I want to share it with everyone- I want people to see what I feel and have thoughts about, and watch my work develop as I do the same. My voice changes over time, and I think I want to continue this- I want to watch my voice and style change over time, and see where it takes me- which is why I’ve decided to do a free write once every three days!