Personal Narrative: My Father
The scent of lavender was overwhelming every time grandma came to visit.
“Trust me you need me here , Addiline , Ever since your father has been sick, you’ve been slacking on everything,” she scoffed.
If the crazy bitch only knew the things I did for my father. My father was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 21 years ago and had been getting worse ever since. His body was attacking itself, and all we could do is sit there and let it happen. When grandma came, she always showed up with bags of weird gluten free, dairy free, soy free, flavor free foods. She was convinced that everything we ate just made my fathers symptoms worse. Now, I do agree McDonald's probably made everything worse, but that was not all we ate.
She, however, refused …show more content…
to believe we were doing anything right.
“How can you people live like this? My goodness, Addie, when was the last time you swept or mopped this floor? How about the last time you vacuumed?! It's a pig sty in here!” she said furiously.
She acted as if I were a child who was incapable of taking care of myself or anyone for that matter. I guess she was right in some ways.
“ You better be here to take your father to his appointment today and be on time! Or we will have some serious issues!” she remarked. I couldn’t take care of myself, but I did everything in my power to take care of my dad ever since my mother left. I guess I saw it coming, she would always threaten to leave us because apparently we never did anything for her. She said my dad being sick was too much for her to handle, and that she just couldn’t do it anymore. The next morning, we woke up, and she left. Ever since then, I have been taking care of dad and me.
Every Friday, I would ditch my last class and rush home to help dad get to his doctors appointments. These appointments usually took only about an hour at most, and I would sit there while dad got his infusions. You meet a whole bunch of sweet souls in the cancer treatment center. This Friday, I got caught up in the hall on my way out to my car by my principal who pulled me into his office to discuss my recent string of absences.
“Addiline Jones, seems to me that you’ve missed your English class once a week for the whole semester. This is the second time I have pulled you into my office to talk to you about this exact issue. Now , Ms.Jones, you do know the schools ditching policy if you miss one more class you’ll be expelled,” Mr.Howard said sternly.
“Now , what in your life could possibly more important than showing up to your classes and getting an education? And your excuse better be good,” he demanded.
“ Well, Mr.Howard, Sir, my father has been very sick lately, and I need to take him to his doctor's office and , right now, sitting here talking to you is making me late to take him. I'm sorry but I need to leave,” I explained.
As I started to get up, Mr.Howard grabbed my wrist looked me in the eyes , and said, “ Addiline Jones, how dare you lie right to the face of your Principal! Two weeks after school detention starting tomorrow!”
I looked at him, looked at my phone and saw the time, dads appointment was in 20 minutes , and I still hadn’t left school “ Again, i’m sorry but I need to go,” I said as I pulled my arm away and ran out to my car.
He didn’t try to stop me, which was surprising. God damn it, I can’t make dad late this will be the second time this month damn Howard will have made me late, ass hole! Who is he to say I’m a liar?
I sped down the road to pick up my dad. Once I got to the house, it’s the same routine it’s always been. Walk in, go to the couch to help dad get up and walk to the car. After we got to the hospital, a nurse would pull walk up with the wheelchair to get dad and would wheel him up to the office while I parked the car.
I always hate the smell of hospitals. They always smell like old people and sadness. While my dad got his infusion, I would usually talk to his doctor for a bit. This time, when I saw him, his face didn’t look as happy as it always did. This time something was wrong, and I could tell. “Hi Addiline, please come this way,” he said as he reached out his hand to direct me to his office .
“ Is everything okay, Doctor Jensen?” I asked trying not to let him hear my voice shake.
“Please, come this way,” he
said
“I'm sorry to inform you of this, but your father's nerve damage is getting progressively worse. And the damage his legs are enduring is quite significant. He will be unable to walk in a month's time” .
My mind went a thousand miles a minute, how could this be happening? What did he ever do to anyone to deserve this?! Why? What are we going to do? There's no way a wheelchair can fit in our house!
I sat there with a blank expression on my face as I tried to come up with something to say. I couldn’t. So, I sat there.
“ Addiline? Are you okay? If you have any questions about anything regarding what is happening to your father , you can call me or my nurses at any time,” he said trying to sound comforting.
“Thank you, But, if you’ll excuse me,” I said I made a B line out of his office to the elevator as fast as I could. Trying not to let anyone see the tears building up in my eyes. The tears kept building up, and I could feel myself about to lose it. I ran as fast as I could down the hall as the tears fell I just ran faster untill I was outside. I ran to the corner of the building out of everyone’s line of sight and I fell to the cement crying. Head in hands, I was sitting bawling my eyes out trying to wrap my brain around what I was just told. My father who used to be the start of his soccer team, avid hiker and most adventurous person I know, would not be able to walk in a month. How could this be possible? I knew it was getting bad, but this bad? I never thought i’d see the day. My father will never be able to walk me down the aisle due to this bullshit disease. As I was sitting there, I heard someone walking up behind me. I tried to wipe my tears away as best as I could when all of a sudden I hear,
“Addiline?”
I looked up, and, but of course, who else would it be but Mr.Howard?
“Trust me you need me here , Addiline , Ever since your father has been sick, you’ve been slacking on everything,” she scoffed.
If the crazy bitch only knew the things I did for my father. My father was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 21 years ago and had been getting worse ever since. His body was attacking itself, and all we could do is sit there and let it happen. When grandma came, she always showed up with bags of weird gluten free, dairy free, soy free, flavor free foods. She was convinced that everything we ate just made my fathers symptoms worse. Now, I do agree McDonald's probably made everything worse, but that was not all we ate.
She, however, refused …show more content…
to believe we were doing anything right.
“How can you people live like this? My goodness, Addie, when was the last time you swept or mopped this floor? How about the last time you vacuumed?! It's a pig sty in here!” she said furiously.
She acted as if I were a child who was incapable of taking care of myself or anyone for that matter. I guess she was right in some ways.
“ You better be here to take your father to his appointment today and be on time! Or we will have some serious issues!” she remarked. I couldn’t take care of myself, but I did everything in my power to take care of my dad ever since my mother left. I guess I saw it coming, she would always threaten to leave us because apparently we never did anything for her. She said my dad being sick was too much for her to handle, and that she just couldn’t do it anymore. The next morning, we woke up, and she left. Ever since then, I have been taking care of dad and me.
Every Friday, I would ditch my last class and rush home to help dad get to his doctors appointments. These appointments usually took only about an hour at most, and I would sit there while dad got his infusions. You meet a whole bunch of sweet souls in the cancer treatment center. This Friday, I got caught up in the hall on my way out to my car by my principal who pulled me into his office to discuss my recent string of absences.
“Addiline Jones, seems to me that you’ve missed your English class once a week for the whole semester. This is the second time I have pulled you into my office to talk to you about this exact issue. Now , Ms.Jones, you do know the schools ditching policy if you miss one more class you’ll be expelled,” Mr.Howard said sternly.
“Now , what in your life could possibly more important than showing up to your classes and getting an education? And your excuse better be good,” he demanded.
“ Well, Mr.Howard, Sir, my father has been very sick lately, and I need to take him to his doctor's office and , right now, sitting here talking to you is making me late to take him. I'm sorry but I need to leave,” I explained.
As I started to get up, Mr.Howard grabbed my wrist looked me in the eyes , and said, “ Addiline Jones, how dare you lie right to the face of your Principal! Two weeks after school detention starting tomorrow!”
I looked at him, looked at my phone and saw the time, dads appointment was in 20 minutes , and I still hadn’t left school “ Again, i’m sorry but I need to go,” I said as I pulled my arm away and ran out to my car.
He didn’t try to stop me, which was surprising. God damn it, I can’t make dad late this will be the second time this month damn Howard will have made me late, ass hole! Who is he to say I’m a liar?
I sped down the road to pick up my dad. Once I got to the house, it’s the same routine it’s always been. Walk in, go to the couch to help dad get up and walk to the car. After we got to the hospital, a nurse would pull walk up with the wheelchair to get dad and would wheel him up to the office while I parked the car.
I always hate the smell of hospitals. They always smell like old people and sadness. While my dad got his infusion, I would usually talk to his doctor for a bit. This time, when I saw him, his face didn’t look as happy as it always did. This time something was wrong, and I could tell. “Hi Addiline, please come this way,” he said as he reached out his hand to direct me to his office .
“ Is everything okay, Doctor Jensen?” I asked trying not to let him hear my voice shake.
“Please, come this way,” he
said
“I'm sorry to inform you of this, but your father's nerve damage is getting progressively worse. And the damage his legs are enduring is quite significant. He will be unable to walk in a month's time” .
My mind went a thousand miles a minute, how could this be happening? What did he ever do to anyone to deserve this?! Why? What are we going to do? There's no way a wheelchair can fit in our house!
I sat there with a blank expression on my face as I tried to come up with something to say. I couldn’t. So, I sat there.
“ Addiline? Are you okay? If you have any questions about anything regarding what is happening to your father , you can call me or my nurses at any time,” he said trying to sound comforting.
“Thank you, But, if you’ll excuse me,” I said I made a B line out of his office to the elevator as fast as I could. Trying not to let anyone see the tears building up in my eyes. The tears kept building up, and I could feel myself about to lose it. I ran as fast as I could down the hall as the tears fell I just ran faster untill I was outside. I ran to the corner of the building out of everyone’s line of sight and I fell to the cement crying. Head in hands, I was sitting bawling my eyes out trying to wrap my brain around what I was just told. My father who used to be the start of his soccer team, avid hiker and most adventurous person I know, would not be able to walk in a month. How could this be possible? I knew it was getting bad, but this bad? I never thought i’d see the day. My father will never be able to walk me down the aisle due to this bullshit disease. As I was sitting there, I heard someone walking up behind me. I tried to wipe my tears away as best as I could when all of a sudden I hear,
“Addiline?”
I looked up, and, but of course, who else would it be but Mr.Howard?