I always enjoyed watching the parent trap movies! The new parent tried to fit in, but the kids always rebelled and hated them. Now that I’m in the same position I understand how they feel. After my father left, the only thing that kept me going were big hopes everything would change for the better once we moved into the big new home. It’s walls ready for our joyful and upsetting moments to be recorded on them. All of those hopes and dreams vanished because I believe no one can replace my father.
It was only a year and a half ago my father left home for good. The little house was filled with regret and emptiness. There was no one to protect us and no one to shelter us. However, what hurt he most was that there was no one to make me smile. Just knowing he had that happy grin on his face would brighten up my day.
Even though my father did not make the best decisions in life, I love him and respect him for one reason: he is my father. And even though those big new walls don’t hold those priceless moments that my father and I shared, I shall keep them locked away and safe in my heart forever.
With the innocent mind that I held as a child, my father was a great man. He always loved the time he spent with me. My favorite memory that stands out was of him trying his best to do my hair. The only hairstyle he knew of as a guy was to bust out the hairspray and slide back the hair. So that’s what he did. He would cover my eyes with his oversized hand and say “close your eyes.” I would close my eyes obediently as I felt the sticky little drops fall to my shoulders. I must admit this wasn’t my favorite hairstyle, but I would keep it just to make him happy because he was and forever will be, my father.
Any person that steps in through that door has not shared all of the special moments that my father and I spent. Any replacement for my father that steps through that door has not been there when I was a child, and any person that steps through that door is not my father. My father would always be there when I needed him and he never let me down. He would always do what he could to make his little girl happy. When I would struggle and it seemed like I could go no further he would reach out his hand and pick me back up. My father had always been my strong shell for my naked unprotected turtle, for that I believe no one can replace my father.