Read This And You'll See

Chapter 6: Parents

This has been a chapter I have been waiting a while to write about. It's less so about parents, and more so about my past and childhood. However, we all know that our parents are one of the key factors. I'm sure we all have our own ups and downs with our parents, some definitely more than others, but I believe the relationship with our parents impacts us in a way that teaches us to learn something about ourselves or others. Sometimes we learn examples of what to be from our parents, and others not so much. Personally, I think they've taught me a bit of both, and I believe that's where most parents fail. They're never perfect, but it's the imperfections that often are the most valuable. Jesus Christ this intro paragraph was cheesy as fuck. Well, on with the story then.

To put it simply, my parents are white as all hell. Like you know those stereotypical white families you find in shitty Christmas movies? That's them basically. They probably beg to differ, but we all know they can't deny it. My dad is one of those traditional fathers who has a lot of work (he's an accountant btw), doesn't really focus on his kids as much as he should, comes home and is like "What's for dinner?", and is an avid sports fan. My mom used to be a reporter for a small newspaper company, but once she moved to California, working became a bit more difficult, especially once children, like myself, started to pop up. Now she mostly just takes care of the house, but she does a bit of freelance writing here and there as well as some charity work (granted my family really only donates to charity for tax breaks, but you get the idea). Point is, my parents are pretty basic. At least on the surface they are, but I believe they're far more complex than they lead on.

Honestly, my family is like the Griswolds from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation which is the best Christmas movie hands down you can't tell me otherwise. If you've seen the movie, then you understand what I'm talking about. But for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, go watch the movie. What? Did you think I was going to just tell you how they're related? Why would I do that? That would ruin the whole movie. I don't care if it's December or July, you can always watch a Christmas movie! Anyway, my little advertisement for a movie from '89 is over. I think what you're actually wondering about is how my parents are more complex than they realize. Well honestly, despite having an incredibly stale surface, almost like a matzo cracker, they've had their fair share of challenges and shaped their identity.

I doubt my parents really want any of this shared, but to be honest, I think it'll put things into perspective for the better. Let's start with my dad. My dad's parents, aka my grandparents, are super white, like they blow my parents out of proportion in terms of whiteness. Like we're like that whole '50s and '60s level of white; they really embodied that "Honey I'm home" type of deal. So yeah, that definitely rubbed off on my dad. They were also hardcore Republicans, which, oh baby this comes incredibly problematic, since the only thing that can overpower love is politics, and that's a fact.

My dad went to this super preppy all boys skool west of Philadelphia. My dad went here until I think his sophomore or junior year of high skool, when one day he got up and just fucking left. Straight up. See, back in the 80's, plane travel and security was broken as shit, so a random teenager can roll up, buy a plane ticket, and just blast out of there with no way to be found. Keep in mind, they're no iPhones or any of that, so communication was basically impossible at this point in time, so he was really gone. He flew to Illinois because he had relatives who lived there, and his younger brother was attending a boarding skool not too far from there. This was pretty fucking stupid, because once he landed he was like "Ah shit idk what to do." Things have to be pretty bad at home in order for someone to just pack up and leave in a moment's notice. Eventually, he sorted things out with his family, and he ended up going to the same boarding skool as his brother, and things seemed to be fine. But it's clear that my dad didn't like his situation at home, and he didn't want to recreate the same setting for his own family.