Journal 2: “Love” and “Spin”

As I woke to an ordinary summer day, I was unaware that this would be a definitive moment in my life. I went through the morning motions, shower, breakfast, the ordinary and common events that I was so accustomed to. My sister then approached me and informed me that something was going on between my mother and my father. They had their fair share of problems, but little did I know that this extraordinary day would change my family forever. As I walked downstairs, I could hear the faint sound of an argument, nothing new in my household. It seemed as if the further I walked down those stairs, the worse their arguments got. Finally all the way to the bottom of the stairs, I could decipher exactly what was going on in the other side of the house. My father was leaving. Not leaving for work or to clear his mind, but leaving for good. With no explanation and several bags of clothing, he walked out that door. The shock of this event is an emotion I would never forget. However, there were many emotions felt by my remaining family, mostly confusion, anger, and sadness. I will never forget my mother’s reaction to this event, talking on the phone with my grandmother, crying because she had no idea what to do. I recall that she asked several questions that made me truly realize the importance of what had just occurred. Not only did my dad leave us, which would have been a lot to bear in itself, but now our family had no way to make money or pay the mortgage on our house. I think that my memory of her hysterical crying over everything that had happened is something I will never forget. I was so upset by what happened that I took two days off from work to get my head straight and figure out what was going to happen. While there are several other memories related to my father (after this occurrence), I will always remember this one in that it was the day my father checked out of my family for good. I will never forget this event because it started all the pain and struggle that my family has gone through even up to this very day.