My junior year of college my dad decided to take a sabbatical working for NASA starting after the holidays. It meant he would have to move to DC for the year. At Thanksgiving, he told us a friend of his was going to live in our house, take care of the place, and pay some rent. When my brother and I showed up at Christmas, his friend had already moved in. She had brought a lot of furniture with her - including a lifesize ceramic pig. It was a little unsettling to see someone else living in our home. It was more unsettling when, later that night, I realized my dad and his "friend" were staying in the same bedroom, the bedroom he had shared with my mom until their separation the year before.
During the week I was home, I didn't say anything to my dad about it. I generally try to avoid any situation that might involve talking about my feelings. After my brother went back to college, my dad sat me down one morning and asked if anything was wrong. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Are you and your friend dating?
Dad: Yes
Me: Why didn't you tell me?
Dad: I find it hard to talk to you. I'm sorry.
Me: [simmering anger]
Awkward silence for 2 straight minutes.
Then I left the house, drove to the movie theater where I watched "The Two Towers," and didn't come back home until that night. I stayed with them about a week more, not saying anything about what had happened. My dad and I have never talked about this incident since then.
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1 comment:
for some reason, i couldn't stop laughing after i read this post. especially the simmering anger and the awkward silence part. i laughed for like 5 minutes, the "I can't breathe" adina laughter. part of me felt bad about laughing, but part of me was like, yeah. i get it.
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