Even though we didn't have much money for Christmas, my brothers and I never noticed. We got new things, and what they were wasn't our first concern. We were just happy to have presents under the tree.
After my parent's divorce, mom was the one that put them under the tree, for the most part. Dad would drop by with some little gift (which we always welcomed), wheedle out some of our Christmas dinner, then leave.
Usually, it was fairly normal.
And then we had the time Dad came barreling through our door, covered in leaves and dirt and snow with a crazed look in his eyes and 12-pack of Dad's Root Beer in his hand. He dropped it beside Elijah, said "Don't ask me where I got it," and sprinted back out the door without even trying to get some dinner.
He still refuses to talk about the whole thing. Whenever it comes up, he shakes his head and won't speak. We generally have some sort of theory in regards to his past, but this is one of the few that we honestly have no clue about.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Faking Cancer
Normally, I post about experiences that are a fair bit in the past, since I like to have things with some sort of chronological order.
The exception is when something really worth writing about happens, like now.
So, my dad has a "friend" who is probably even more nuts than he is, if such a thing is possible. He's been to jail, had his kid taken away, is almost always drunk, and is fond of leaving threatening voice mails. We hadn't heard from him in years, and we'd all sort of assumed he'd gotten himself killed. He's that type of person.
But then we get a frantic call from my dad about how his friend showed up on his doorstep, begging for money to help with getting custody of his kid, and insisting that dad owed him. He looked pretty wretched (more than usual) and was almost crying on dad's doorstep. Dad told him to wait, went inside, and called us asking for an excuse to not help his friend.
Now, the woman dad is suffering from breast cancer, so mom told dad to say that he was dealing with some medical issues. Mom said he didn't have to divulge any information, just to say that it was private and he really couldn't help right now.
So dad heads back to his friend, apologizes profusely, and says he's been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.
Because that's the sensible thing to do.
The exception is when something really worth writing about happens, like now.
So, my dad has a "friend" who is probably even more nuts than he is, if such a thing is possible. He's been to jail, had his kid taken away, is almost always drunk, and is fond of leaving threatening voice mails. We hadn't heard from him in years, and we'd all sort of assumed he'd gotten himself killed. He's that type of person.
But then we get a frantic call from my dad about how his friend showed up on his doorstep, begging for money to help with getting custody of his kid, and insisting that dad owed him. He looked pretty wretched (more than usual) and was almost crying on dad's doorstep. Dad told him to wait, went inside, and called us asking for an excuse to not help his friend.
Now, the woman dad is suffering from breast cancer, so mom told dad to say that he was dealing with some medical issues. Mom said he didn't have to divulge any information, just to say that it was private and he really couldn't help right now.
So dad heads back to his friend, apologizes profusely, and says he's been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.
Because that's the sensible thing to do.
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