In the early years of my life my father was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. By the time I turned three my father had lost his ability to walk, and I, my normal childhood. My parents, three brothers, and I lived in a home where we constantly battled the stresses of everyday life with a family member with a disability. We relied on each other to perform and finish everyday tasks. In experiencing this hardship at an early age I was able to accept my responsibilities and deal with the reality of my father’s illness as an individual and have it shape me into the person I am today.
I remember that at times when I was younger I would witness my father’s legs spasming when he was napping on the couch or sleeping in bed. The …show more content…
His anger would boil beneath the surface of his skin until he would erupt like a volcano, destroying anything and everything in his path. His mood swings and frustrated shrills of rage would rip and tear at his relationship with my mother. Disease isn’t just something that can damage your health, it can cause changes in people. After fifteen years of being together, my mother left my father. Although the predicament was upsetting, there wasn’t even a slight possibility that I could have blamed my mother for separating with my father. I hadn’t known my father the way my mother did before his illness, how he used to act or just be as a person. In growing up, I was used to seeing my father get frustrated when he couldn’t perform a normal everyday life task and so I was able to grow accustomed to his behavior early on. I wasn’t caught in the transition of my father, from how he used to be to who he became when he was diagnosed, but my mother was. My mother’s decision to leave my dad, brought compassion into my character. I was sympathetic towards my mother to have lost her best friend and I also grieved for the loss it brought to my father. After my father divorced my mother, he was never the same. He stopped eating or caring about anything. My oldest brother and his girlfriend moved in to help care for my father and the house that needed constant clean up. During the winter after my
I remember that at times when I was younger I would witness my father’s legs spasming when he was napping on the couch or sleeping in bed. The …show more content…
His anger would boil beneath the surface of his skin until he would erupt like a volcano, destroying anything and everything in his path. His mood swings and frustrated shrills of rage would rip and tear at his relationship with my mother. Disease isn’t just something that can damage your health, it can cause changes in people. After fifteen years of being together, my mother left my father. Although the predicament was upsetting, there wasn’t even a slight possibility that I could have blamed my mother for separating with my father. I hadn’t known my father the way my mother did before his illness, how he used to act or just be as a person. In growing up, I was used to seeing my father get frustrated when he couldn’t perform a normal everyday life task and so I was able to grow accustomed to his behavior early on. I wasn’t caught in the transition of my father, from how he used to be to who he became when he was diagnosed, but my mother was. My mother’s decision to leave my dad, brought compassion into my character. I was sympathetic towards my mother to have lost her best friend and I also grieved for the loss it brought to my father. After my father divorced my mother, he was never the same. He stopped eating or caring about anything. My oldest brother and his girlfriend moved in to help care for my father and the house that needed constant clean up. During the winter after my