Mr. Jeffrey L. Olson, Jr.
AP English Language & Composition
March 7, 2014
Being different is ok
My dad has never understood that being different is never a bad thing. My older brother
Hector, confessed to me last year before he left to travel the world with his new job as a flight attendant for American Airlines, that he liked men. Meaning he’s homosexual. Do I care? No because its his decision and not anyone elses. But here is how it all slowly began to build up.
To begin with, my dad and brother have never had that all american father son relationship as you see in movies nowadays. Hector ever since he was a child and lived in
Mexico, has been the outcast of the family. You’d think that because he was a boy, the dad would love him to death. Not in this case, my dad would get grossed out when my brother would get home and want to eat because he did not eat at school all day due to financial issues. He would hate if he would go to the fridge more than twice a day, like everything he did bothered him. Nothing made my dad happy. If he was quiet he’d get yelled out for not talking, if he was loud he’d want to spank him. He would even get disrespected at the store in front of hundreds of people.When they arrived in the United States, Hector was in elementry school still and when he would ask my dad for help on his homework he’d yell at him for not understanding what was being asked, and would call him in spanish “estupido o un Idiota”.
When he began high school at Agua Fria, he gained a lot of weight due to stress, anxiety, and everything else that my dad caused him. As he began his freshman year, he was doing better
things for himself. He got his first job at McDonald’s. and lasted a couple months before he realized that one job was not giving him enough money for all his own expenses. He was working for himself since my dad could care less about him. So he got another job at Burger
King, he still went to school, got good grades and all but it was never good enough for my dad…. ever.
And I’ve always wondered why my brother has always had so much hatred towards life and the people, he’s forced to call family. But in all honesty its all my dads fault. My Mom reminds us constantly that we’re so lucky to have not have had Dad be like he was with Hector.
He would shake in fear of not knowing what Dad was capable of doing.He never was allowed to go to college due to the fact of financial aid and Dad’s lack of being involved in our studies (still to this day). I do not mean to throw him under the bus at all. By the time senior year came, he did not have the money to pay for his cap and gown, prom tickets,or his tux for the night. Mom with her motherly instincts took money out of my dad's bank account and gave it to Hector so he could at least enjoy part of his senior year. When he turned 17, he moved out of the house and stayed in approximately 7 different condos/ apartments until about the age of 22 he bought a house in Tolleson about four or five years ago, and yes all on his own with no ones help. He later got a high paying Job in the medicare department and