Love exists in staying strong.
My most recent English assignment...It's kind of long, but worth the time, especially if you've ever been through any tough situations.
Comments and critiques are welcome, since it's a rough draft for an English assignment, but that's not why I'm posting it.
Dear Jeff,
In these last 18 years I’ve lived in a lot of different places and met a lot of different people. I’ve made a lot of friends, just as many enemies, and I’ve come to know who I can and cannot count on when things get rough. As a father, you taught me a very important lesson in my young adult life. You taught me how to count on myself more than anyone else; how to make my own way in this world. You taught me how to be independent when I couldn’t rely on anyone else. I guess the best teacher for a lesson like this is the one who doesn’t show up for class.
In the early years of my life, I believed you to be nothing less than my hero. I saw you as any other child would see their father; spirited, sentimental and stable. However, now that you’re no longer a part of my life, I find myself remembering only broken promises and an empty heart. I vaguely recall the rare occasions when you would take us skiing or hiking, and the even rarer visits from the rest of my family. I know you have your reasons as to why you were never around and why I never saw my family, and I know you feel that they are all equally justifiable. However, a child of such a young age understands nothing but what they are taught by their parents, and I guess you felt the same way I do now; the best teacher for a lesson like this is the one who doesn’t show up for class.
I want you to know that the past three years without you have been the hardest years of my life. Each and every day brought a new struggle, if it wasn’t a problem with my living arrangement, it would be a problem at school. My grades fell drastically from A’s and B’s to C’s and D’s. I found myself living in an old barn for a few nights and then in someone’s basement for a month. Although I knew that I could at any moment escape to my mother’s house, start over and be completely free of any parental supervision, I also knew that that was not the right answer. I knew that I had to try as hard as I could to stay where I was because of how great the school and all the people in it were. I knew that to escape to my mother’s house would be like giving up and letting you win.
In the years I’ve spent searching for my place in the world, I’ve realized that when times get rough, a person can really only count on themselves to make the right decisions. However, I know that if it weren’t for a few close friends, I wouldn’t have made it through my last three years of high school. I realize that although I’ve had friends twist their arms to get their parents to accept me into their home, I still believe that if I had laid my life into someone else’s hands, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I know I am strong and I know I am brave. I know that if it weren’t for you abandoning your fatherly title, I wouldn’t be who I am now. With each home I’ve been in and out of and with every passing grade, I made one more step towards who I wanted to become. I was molding my own personality and becoming my own person. I wanted to be nothing like you, nothing like my mother, and I didn’t want to follow the same path as my sister. With each and every bump in the road came a new lesson in life, a lesson I had to learn myself, the hard way.
Since the day I walked out of your house, I feel I have accomplished more than you ever could have imagined I would. I graduated high school and enrolled in college. I finally found my place. Though I am still struggling greatly financially, I feel that no matter what I have to go through, things will always work out in the end. Thankfully, I have found someone that I can truly count on, someone who helps me keep my head up in rough situations, and clears the fog when I can see nowhere else to go. He is someone who is and always will be here for me, like you should be. I know that no matter where I end up, I will always be more successful than you ever will be, and just that simple fact is enough for me to keep my head high.
I don’t know where you are now, or what you’re doing with your life. I don’t know what you think about before bed each night, and I don’t know if you even think about me. But what I do know is that none of those things bother me anymore. I have accepted that you are no longer my father, and I have accepted the fact that I will most likely never hear from you again. I find it unfortunate that I am stuck with your last name, but even more unfortunate that the last thing you ever said to my face was “Get out of my house.” I know I can never change these things, and I welcome the fact that they all make me stronger. If it weren’t for you, Jeffrey Hammond, I wouldn’t be who I am now. Though, you really don’t deserve any of the credit.
Sincerely,
Alexis Lynn
Comments and critiques are welcome, since it's a rough draft for an English assignment, but that's not why I'm posting it.
Dear Jeff,
In these last 18 years I’ve lived in a lot of different places and met a lot of different people. I’ve made a lot of friends, just as many enemies, and I’ve come to know who I can and cannot count on when things get rough. As a father, you taught me a very important lesson in my young adult life. You taught me how to count on myself more than anyone else; how to make my own way in this world. You taught me how to be independent when I couldn’t rely on anyone else. I guess the best teacher for a lesson like this is the one who doesn’t show up for class.
In the early years of my life, I believed you to be nothing less than my hero. I saw you as any other child would see their father; spirited, sentimental and stable. However, now that you’re no longer a part of my life, I find myself remembering only broken promises and an empty heart. I vaguely recall the rare occasions when you would take us skiing or hiking, and the even rarer visits from the rest of my family. I know you have your reasons as to why you were never around and why I never saw my family, and I know you feel that they are all equally justifiable. However, a child of such a young age understands nothing but what they are taught by their parents, and I guess you felt the same way I do now; the best teacher for a lesson like this is the one who doesn’t show up for class.
I want you to know that the past three years without you have been the hardest years of my life. Each and every day brought a new struggle, if it wasn’t a problem with my living arrangement, it would be a problem at school. My grades fell drastically from A’s and B’s to C’s and D’s. I found myself living in an old barn for a few nights and then in someone’s basement for a month. Although I knew that I could at any moment escape to my mother’s house, start over and be completely free of any parental supervision, I also knew that that was not the right answer. I knew that I had to try as hard as I could to stay where I was because of how great the school and all the people in it were. I knew that to escape to my mother’s house would be like giving up and letting you win.
In the years I’ve spent searching for my place in the world, I’ve realized that when times get rough, a person can really only count on themselves to make the right decisions. However, I know that if it weren’t for a few close friends, I wouldn’t have made it through my last three years of high school. I realize that although I’ve had friends twist their arms to get their parents to accept me into their home, I still believe that if I had laid my life into someone else’s hands, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I know I am strong and I know I am brave. I know that if it weren’t for you abandoning your fatherly title, I wouldn’t be who I am now. With each home I’ve been in and out of and with every passing grade, I made one more step towards who I wanted to become. I was molding my own personality and becoming my own person. I wanted to be nothing like you, nothing like my mother, and I didn’t want to follow the same path as my sister. With each and every bump in the road came a new lesson in life, a lesson I had to learn myself, the hard way.
Since the day I walked out of your house, I feel I have accomplished more than you ever could have imagined I would. I graduated high school and enrolled in college. I finally found my place. Though I am still struggling greatly financially, I feel that no matter what I have to go through, things will always work out in the end. Thankfully, I have found someone that I can truly count on, someone who helps me keep my head up in rough situations, and clears the fog when I can see nowhere else to go. He is someone who is and always will be here for me, like you should be. I know that no matter where I end up, I will always be more successful than you ever will be, and just that simple fact is enough for me to keep my head high.
I don’t know where you are now, or what you’re doing with your life. I don’t know what you think about before bed each night, and I don’t know if you even think about me. But what I do know is that none of those things bother me anymore. I have accepted that you are no longer my father, and I have accepted the fact that I will most likely never hear from you again. I find it unfortunate that I am stuck with your last name, but even more unfortunate that the last thing you ever said to my face was “Get out of my house.” I know I can never change these things, and I welcome the fact that they all make me stronger. If it weren’t for you, Jeffrey Hammond, I wouldn’t be who I am now. Though, you really don’t deserve any of the credit.
Sincerely,
Alexis Lynn