My dad has been a significant motivating force behind everything I have accomplished in my life. Growing up, I didn’t exactly have a good life because my mother is an alcoholic. It was the night before my fifth birthday and my mom was “sick” again; she began stomping around the house yelling at everyone in sight. I didn’t know if I was going to ever have my party. Luckily my dad came to the rescue by the time I woke up the next morning. He had my “Madeline” themed birthday decorations all set up and all my birthday presents wrapped neatly on the dining room table. The party’s main activity was creating purses. As you can imagine fashioning bright yellow felt purses with ten giddy five year old girls was not my dad’s favorite activity. This was especially true on the Forth of July which happens to be my birthday. I now realize he did it just to make me smile.
Later in my life when I understood the extent of my mom’s problem my dad became the only constant in a world that can only be described as total chaos. By the time I was ten my parents were getting divorced and my Mom's life was consumed by her addiction. Her alcohol was all she cared about and she would do anything to get her hands on it. She had just kicked my dad out of the house and for the first time in my life I was truly and utterly alone. I had to grow up fast taking on virtually all the adult responsibilities like doing chores and making breakfast lunch and dinner. My Mom would say things to me like “All you are is a stupid little bitch” or “I hate you and I always will”. I felt worthless .One day in June my dad finally came back for me. That day I hugged him so tight that I thought I would never let him go until he promised that we would never be separated again. My mom used to refer to me as “Daddy’s Girl” and I guess that I always was. My dad saved me that day.
Since I have been living with my dad I realized I am no longer worthless. I saw his proud, smiling face as I walked across the stage in the school auditorium to receive my honor roll awards. Without him I really don’t know where I would be. This father’s day I would like to say thank you to the best dad in the world. Thank you for loving me and supporting me in everything I do. Fiction
