Middle Adulthood
My mom and dad did not socialize or have a lot of friends. They had one couple, Dave and Anne, who was dad’s friend from middle school that they saw on a regular basis. We traveled as families, boated on the Fox River together, and saw each other every Friday night while our parents bowled in a league. My dad coached my brother’s little league teams for years and was commissioner of the baseball league. Other than that, we spent most of our weekend with my mom’s family. We only saw my dad’s mom on holiday’s and we hardly ever saw his brother. Between the years of 1996 and 1998 my dad went through four major traumatic events. In 1996 he had a stroke while driving home from work. He was told it would take him two years of physical
…show more content…
He immediately went back to work to keep himself busy and avoid the pain of being home alone. For reasons unknown, he disowned his brother for good and his life-long friends Dave and Anne. According to him, they each “betrayed” him after his wife died. Approximately the same time he lost his mom, four to six months after losing his wife, he began dating. He wanted all of us, including my mom’s brothers and sisters, to meet his new girlfriends. Because my father is a self-absorbed person, we were never given the choice if we wanted to meet these women so close after losing our loved one, they were forced upon us. Some of the women were from his past and others he met randomly. One in particular, I refused to meet or have in my home due to her shady past. He did not understand my position and when I gave him the ultimatum of him dating her or seeing me, he chose her. This relationship did not last long and he moved on to other women who were more reputable. During this time my dad found new friends whom he started to hang out with. They would come over to his house to play pool and drink beer. This period of instability lasted for about ten years in which my dad found a new job, he now has a steady girlfriend, and no longer has his buddies