I've been thinking about why I don't post, and I don't really have a reason.
I just don't.
So, here's a little story my dad tells proudly. When I was six I had a crying fit in the middle of a store. You know, I was THAT KID. The one that starts to scream because she doesn't get what she wants.
My dad snapped off his belt, spun me around and gave me a few stinging licks on the back of my bare thighs.
I never again had another crying fit in the middle of a store.
That last part there is when you can see the pride gleam in his eyes when he tells this story.
I don't actually remember this happening, but it sounds like my dad. I think what really must have stung was the humiliation.
That's just how my dad worked.
When my mom wanted to learn how to drive a car he told her, "You'll never learn how to drive. You're incapable."
My mom has told me that after a few weeks of replaying his words in her head she called up a driving school, and set out to prove him wrong.
She did, too.
After years of taking the bus with my mother she finally got her driver's license.
After years of being a mediocre student (As, Bs and Cs) my dad said to me, "You know you'd get better grades if you weren't so lazy."
My response wasn't as motivated as my mom's. I just thought to myself, "I'm lazy."
I know I've written about my dad spanking me before, and every day I forgive my father a little bit more.
But every year around Father's Day I think about these things, and I struggle with the task of picking out a card. Typically, I go for the "thanks for doing the best you could do" card.
