The Patterson Narrative
When Royce Patterson thought about dating, his mother's hard drinking, child neglecting ways left him with the model of womanhood that he purposely sought the very opposite of. His father, a long-haul truck driver, was more out then in his life by his teenage years, so he took it upon himself to become a surrogate parent to his two younger siblings, Emma Jean and Ryan. Royce took his duties seriously for fear that Children's Services would get wind of his parents' dereliction of duties resulting in he and his siblings being separated and lost in the system. It was he, not his mother, that made sure that they bathe; that their school uniforms were clean and that they were fed, all while attending high school himself …show more content…
Richardson sat Royce down to ask him to forgive his mother's shortcomings. She spoke of their high school years when his mother dreamed of college and escape from this neighborhood to live overseas in Italy. Her parents' tragic deaths in her senior year of high school triggered a severe bout of depression causing her grades to suffer and her barely graduating. She had to say goodbye to college and Italy when she had to take a job waitressing to keep a roof over her head. She met and married much too young, hoping that his more worldly father would save her, only to find him gone weeks at a time with her still waitressing, never leaving her childhood neighborhood, but now with children. Her social drinking changed to hard drinking when their fighting escalated due to his father's extended absences. Her drinking led to the loss of her job and being dependent on the very man she felt neglected her. Eventually, her excessive drinking developed into the disease that now grips her and keeps her life spiraling out of control. She is beyond the use of will power at this point. She would need God and Alcoholics Anonymous or rehab to help break alcohol's hold on her. Royce began to see his mother differently after their talk and began encouraging her to seek
When Royce Patterson thought about dating, his mother's hard drinking, child neglecting ways left him with the model of womanhood that he purposely sought the very opposite of. His father, a long-haul truck driver, was more out then in his life by his teenage years, so he took it upon himself to become a surrogate parent to his two younger siblings, Emma Jean and Ryan. Royce took his duties seriously for fear that Children's Services would get wind of his parents' dereliction of duties resulting in he and his siblings being separated and lost in the system. It was he, not his mother, that made sure that they bathe; that their school uniforms were clean and that they were fed, all while attending high school himself …show more content…
Richardson sat Royce down to ask him to forgive his mother's shortcomings. She spoke of their high school years when his mother dreamed of college and escape from this neighborhood to live overseas in Italy. Her parents' tragic deaths in her senior year of high school triggered a severe bout of depression causing her grades to suffer and her barely graduating. She had to say goodbye to college and Italy when she had to take a job waitressing to keep a roof over her head. She met and married much too young, hoping that his more worldly father would save her, only to find him gone weeks at a time with her still waitressing, never leaving her childhood neighborhood, but now with children. Her social drinking changed to hard drinking when their fighting escalated due to his father's extended absences. Her drinking led to the loss of her job and being dependent on the very man she felt neglected her. Eventually, her excessive drinking developed into the disease that now grips her and keeps her life spiraling out of control. She is beyond the use of will power at this point. She would need God and Alcoholics Anonymous or rehab to help break alcohol's hold on her. Royce began to see his mother differently after their talk and began encouraging her to seek