Father's day

Father's day is coming up, my first one as a stepmom. I lost my father early, he died when I was fourteen. I never had much of a relationship with him, he was big and strong and largely absent from the home. He used to hit my teenage sisters and brothers to the extend that it scared the bejeebees out of me, causing me to be a very well behaved child. I always thought other families had it better when I was a kid. I guess there might be some families where the father is a real DAD, you know, involved with the children, available to them, loving, kind... all that good stuff.

Deadbeat dad
Of the four boys only Chris still frequently visit's his father. The others have each for their own reasons abandoned the guy. Joseph is stoned most of the time on "Party Island Ibiza". I doubt if he even knows it's father's day. Eric hates his father's guts, with some pretty good reasoning behind it. He litterally said: "When I was 12 I concluded that my dad was wrong about most things, in particular the things he said about me. From then on I monitored him closely and I have come to the conclusion that he's a worthless sack of shit." Some of the things I've witnessed in the past year have led me to believe that he may have a point.

One of those times was when Dennis was in the hospital, looking like he was going to die. He'd been beat to a pulp by three adults. Seven witnesses testified in court that, out of nowhere, these three guys jumped out of their car, pulled Dennis off his bike an hit him. He went down after the second fist and they kicked him several times where he lay. He might have died on the spot if it hadn't been for the police who just happened to drive by at that very moment. He was unconcious when they put him in the ambulance and didn't wake up till sometime the next morning to his mom sitting by his side. Joyce had texted his father, who responded by sending his son a text: "I'm with my girlfriend, can't come right now. You're in my thoughts".

At Joyce's house Father's day will pass by largely unnoticed. A father is the most important man in a child's life. Having one that doesn't care, doesn't show love and affection, doesn't pay his child support is painful. Teenage boys are set the task of discovering for themselves what it means to be a man. It makes me feel sad that their example in this isn't very inspiring.