Family Ties 3


The young man was a father and nothing could make him happier. He realized that he truly loved having someone to care for. His wife was in a good mood most of the time. In fact he thought she had never been happier than she was during those first couple of years. The young child began to walk and talk. He found a way to get things off the tables and counters. The young man realized that "baby proof" isn't really all that it's cracked up to be. He even overlooked the fact that the girl would blame him everytime the toddler did something. He knew that she was just having a bad day, or was just tired. He never blamed her for her actions he simply ignored the anger in her voice and took care of the problem. Finally one night his wife came to him and said "I want another baby." He hesitated only a second before agreeing. After all one child had done wonders for his family. Another would make it only better.

She had to have the same surgery to repair the problems she had conceiving. After a few months she was indeed pregnant again. With a small child and morning sickness, the girl was not quite the happy camper she had been during the first pregnancy. She was often moody. At those times, the young man knew to stay out of sight and out of mind. He would often take his son for walks or out front to look at flowers and bugs. That didn't usually last long as she would be at the door to complain about him letting their boy get dirty, and catch all manner of sicknesses that those dirty bugs must have. He would agree and bring the boy inside to clean him up. Often they would just sit and look at picture books until she found some other reason to tell the young man what he was doing that was wrong.

Fortunately for the young family, this pregnancy was on time and without complication. They had a second healthy baby boy. A mirror image of the first child. The young man was happy again, because she was happy again. He always sensed that as long as she remained content everybody else in the family would be ok. He either failed or refused to notice that while she loved the children, she could never say anything good about them without first saying something critical. the oldest received the worst of it. She would always tell him what a messy, rude child he was and then in the next breath tell him how much she loved her little boy.
As the younger child began to grow, he received the same treatment. She loved her children she just didn't understand how to tell them. She even believed that she still loved her husband, although when she was honest with herself she blamed him for her moody personality. She never considered the possibility that she was depressed.

The next few years were ok, but there were many arguments. The young man had become tired of taking the blame for all things in the house. He began to fight back. He would bring up her shortcomings when she would criticize him. It didn't take long before he was working more and more. His small business began to grow with him so engrossed in work. They began to see the benefits of his hard work and moved to a larger home. She never once considered complimenting him for the hard work he did. After all it was his job as far as she was concerned. She took care of the children, and he was expected to take care of making the money. That was how it worked for her parents and they had done ok.

The next year she was ready to move again. The young man was constantly at work now. He told her that wherever she wanted to go was fine with him. She found the next house and he moved them in. So began the cycle. The young man would work from morning to night, sometimes not getting home until early morning hours. He wasn't being unfaithful to his wife, he just traded his family for his work. He saw the kids on weekends and he made sure to make their school events. As they began to enter youth sports he always made sure to attend every game. He would cheer them on quietly from the side of the bleachers or out behind a fence. He never got to be the dad shouting in the bleachers "That's my Boy!". Mom was proud when her children did well but couldn't understand why she couldn't offer them a single compliment at those times.

The years began to pass him by and they moved. Every year they moved, and he questioned her once on it. It turned out that she liked the feeling of starting over with a clean slate. A new house offered her that opportunity. The children never complained about moving any longer. They knew what it meant when mom got the plastic bins out of the garage. They had learned not to get too attached to neighborhood kids because it wouldn't be long before they had to start again.



There were two brothers separated by 3 years. They grew up moving around a little bit...





Quick note...This is based loosely on a number of people I know or have known over the years. My wife went through the terrible labor, a really good friend of mine once used to drive 4 hours to see his girlfriend on the weekends (and she did meet another guy during that time). I got to thinking about some kids I've dealt with and this seemed to be a common theme amongst those with problems. A broken family. Not just a divorced one, but a broken one. I thought I'd maybe bring a little glimpse of what a broken family looks like from my perspective. Sorry for the grammar but I felt that I should leave the characters without a name, because they are anybody who has been in this situation... Anyway I hope you enjoyed my little tale..