There have been many events that have occurred in my childhood that
have changed my perspective of of how I view adults. The one that
stands out the most is the day that changed our family forever. I
just returned from a play date with our next door neighbor. My mother
had been cleaning house all day. We used to live in a 3500 square feet
,three story house which consisted of a library, living room, dinning room,entrance parlor, and kitchen, on first floor and five bedrooms
and 3 bathrooms upstairs plus the basement and laundary room on lower
level. The house was massive and required a full day to clean. As we
entered, I saw that my Dad was intoxicated, slurring his words and
saying nonsense accusations. Talking nonsense was the usual way he
would appear when he drank. My neighbor asked my mom if she
wanted me to go over to their house for a little while longer but my
mom embarrassed of my dad drunk conditions, in front of the
neighbor, declined. I was a little upset because I didn't want to be around my dad. He
is such a completely different man when he is under the influence of
alcohol.
My mom went into the kitchen to continue her chores and my dad
followed her. I went into our library and overheard them argue. I
heard something shatter but did not think anything of it. I couldn't
take the arguing any more. So I decided to head upstairs to my room. As
I set my foot on the first step I hear my mom yelling " Call 9 1 1". I
run up the stairs. The set of stairs felt like they were never going to
end. I finally reach the phone dial 911 and told the operator I needed
help and gave her my address.
A police officer immediately arrived
and I ran down the stairs to let him in. He goes into the kitchen and to
my surprise I saw my dad attempting to shove my moms face to hit the
kitchen marble floor. The officer
arrests my dad.and puts him in handcuffs. As he is escorted to the police car, he keeps repeating he loved his wife and it was self
defense. . The paramedics arrive, they tend to my mom. She is put on a
stretcher and we head to the hospital. After that incident my mom made
up her mind that it was time to file for divorce. She had put up with
his verbal abuse for twenty-three years of marriage but would not tolerate
physical abuse, especially as she really thought she was going to die
that day.
My dad went around telling everyone that my mom tried to hurt him
and it was self defense. He played the victim and wanted everyone's
sympathy vote. During the duration of the divorce and still to this day
he talks negative about my mom.Yet my mother has never spoken bad
about him , she says actions speaks stronger than words. She may think
of all the horrible things he has done but never attempts to speak or put us against him.
The event of my dad harming my mom and lying to people about what
he had done forever changed the way I saw adults. In my mind , I saw
adults especially your parents as people who are there to protect you.
They are the one who teach you not to lie,and they always say they
want whats best for you. The fact that my own dad tried to take the life
of his wife, mother of his children, a woman who supported all his
dreams and work along side him with the family business and then lied
about it showed me that people are not always what they seem. Here was a
man who stood out in the social circle of affluent friends, community
and business associates, who had charisma and influential power with
others, continued to pretend that what he did was justifiable. This impacted my life in many ways in the manner that adults may
pretend to be what they are not.
