Change (essay)

The construction and shaping of my life was by a man I’ve known since before I was born. This man always has some kind of crude humor, chapped lips, tobacco breath, and untidy hair and constantly has grease or dirt all over his worn out jeans and calloused hands. The man who I’m describing is my father. I have seen him at his highest point at harvest time, to his lowest point after the divorce from my mother. The construction and shaping of my life was by a man I’ve known since before I was born, my father.
I constantly looked up to my father before I turned five. We could always spend time together fishing for those five pound bluegill on a hot, spring day at my Dad’s neighbor friend’s secret place. The instant that most stands out to me was going mushroom hunting. Every year I would wait until spring rolled around so just my father and I could go. I remember for hours at a time we would hunt for those moldy treats. I didn’t even like mushrooms, but I did it to be with him. Through the marshy soil, moist air and sunny day, we would both wear out mud boots. While walking in the corn field and listening to the sound of our boots go “clomp, clomp, clomp”. I put my muddy boots into my father’s boot tracks and wanted to be like him.
A lot has changed since I was five years old. My father and I barely speak, which has our relationship so weak it’s almost non-existent. My father had drinking problems mostly because of the divorce from my mother. The major turning point was an instance when he was drunk on a dark, fall weekend evening with a crisp breeze end he was trying to plow the field with a flat tractor. I just laughed insanely because I didn’t know what to do. Then a moment later I realized I had to drive home at 12 years old because my life was at risk.
Since that turning point, I’ve tried to fix the things my father has done in my life and put it to use in my life. Like drinking to the excess, I don’t do it, even when times get too hard to handle. When I’m old enough to have teenage children, I’ll keep in touch with them. I know my father has made mistakes it shows he’s human. I just know not to do the same thing. The molding of my life was constructed by a man I’ve known since before I was born.