(no subject)
I have an odd relationship with my father. He was an off and on drug addict/alcoholic for a long time (up until I was about 12 or 13), so I spent a lot more time with my mother than with my father growing up (luckily). She and I have a really good relationship on the other hand. We see each other almost daily, and talk. We go out to bars sometimes, and I consider her to be a friend and a parent.
I have a lot of memories I'd rather not remember. That's in the past now, but it still affects everything. During the period starting when I entered high school and ending last summer when I moved out, we had a tense relationship. My mom moved out after I was through with high school, and I almost went with her, but ended up staying at home. He had (and still has) a short temper, and was easily upset. He was a neat freak, and was pretty bad about it. He's was (and still is) in Narcotics Anonymous, so he spent a lot of time going to meetings (another reason he wasn't always around when I was growing up - he surrounded himself with addicts at the expense of alienating his family).
After the whole debacle with my old house last year (ask me about it sometime), the relationship between he and I became infinitely more strained. It was a hard time. We were on better terms for a while, but we've effectively stopped talking. Every now and then, I'll call him or he'll call me, but our conversations are brief and superficial. Frankly, there's not much to talk about.
On Friday, I found out that when my grandfather (dad's dad) died, no one found out for a week. It was in June of 1986 (I believe), and he lived alone in an apartment on Ridge avenue. I don't know how he died, but he died alone. I think my dad was the first one to see his body, a corpse that had been wilting in a hot apartment for seven days. My mom told me that my grandfather drove everyone away from him, and died alone.
My dad's building a fence around his yard. A big, 6 foot plus wooden fence. He has friends and a girlfriend, but he lives alone. Even though we don't talk much, I still love him, and don't want what happened to his father to happen to him.
I really hope it doesn't happen to me. Especially if I ever have kids.