Okay, I admit it. I did think my family situation was kind of unique. All the estrangements, all the freezeouts. All the rifts.
So maybe it's a little extreme, but it isn't unique.
Brandon's mom talked a little bit about her dad while she was here. Our stories are different but not so different.
I guess it's easy for people to talk about nice family relationships in polite conversation. So I just assumed that since I only heard about the nice ones, there weren't any lousy ones.
But any amount of listening to the things that AREN'T said tells me that half the time, there's a brother no one's heard from, or a dad who just disappeared to Vietnam when he found out he was dying of cancer.
I gotta listen better. And more.
So I thought I'd be sharing and exploring, but this all feels like territory that everyone knows a little too well.
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Although f'ed up families are common, the circumstances feel unique and cause people to feel isolated. So your experience is valuable in that it helps people know they're not alone.
ReplyDeleteI have several girlfriends who started a "Bad Dad" club. They're all incredible and successful women. But they all had shitty experiences with their dads in one way or another. It's gotten to be quite a large club :)
Lizzy, you really are the nicest. Thanks for being so nice. I wish you would start a blog.
ReplyDeleteI've started at least 3 blogs, none of which have flourished due to my inability to maintain gumption. SO my next blog will be all about how I never complete anything. Might as well not even start. I'm a shitty blogger. You're an awesome blogger. I seriously enjoy reading your writing.
ReplyDeleteDue to my lack of blogishness, I rely on facebook. I think it's a cop out, though.