Speech

Heather Lee

COMM 101

Speech #5 Special Occasions

“My Father”

My father, the first man who held me, the first to wipe my tears, the first to kiss me on the cheek, the first to love me; a father is a girl’s first love. My father has been my rock and my shelter from the storm. He has never let me down and he has never given up on me, even when I had given up on myself. This is for you, Dad.

My father’s life has been anything but fair and easy. In fact, it has been the opposite. My dad, Darren grew up in a small town. My dad’s parents were divorced when he was young and he and my uncle, Mark moved in with their father, my grandpa, Dickie. My dad was quite the trouble maker, from skipping school to stealing candy bars from the local grocery store. By seventeen my dad and his then girlfriend found themselves pregnant. They were married and had my half-sister, Misti. They were married and divorced within a year. My dad found steady work making bottles at Johnson Controls and then met my mother, Tina not long after. At twenty four, he found himself with another bride and a baby, me! Although my father worked and provided a nice home, he led a different life away from us. My dad was arrested when I was one and sent to prison for almost a year. To be honest, I don’t remember my father much until I was around seven.

I know, it sounds like my dad’s past would send me into a rant on a not so good father, but it’s the opposite. My mother started drinking alcohol when I was around eight. My parents separated and I moved in with my mom. Her drinking became progressively worse and one day I came home from school and my dad was there waiting on me. He said my mother had gone to rehab and he would be taking me to live with him.

The adjustment was hard at first, we lived in a one bedroom and it wasn’t much room. Eventually we moved into a two bedroom and somewhere between eight and twenty four, my dad became not only my best friend, but my mother and father.

I call my...