Did/do you have a good relationship with your father?

[person of shadow]

I was just wondering.


I did when I was little but not anymore. It stopped when I was about 14. I was tired of having to call him, he would never call me. Plus the fact that he punched my brother in the face for a stupid reason.(no slap, Punch, and his wife had my brother in a head lock when he did it.)

[Zoritsa_Nepenthe]

I did...until I was a teenager.It wasn't his fault though.My parents were divorced,and once I started wanting to hang out with friends and started driving...hanging out with Dad was kinda geeky and boring in my eyes.I wish I had known he wouldn't have lived very long though.I would have spent way more time with him.

[person of shadow]

My parents divorced when I was a baby.

[Jolixte]

Yeah, my parents divorced, but I lived with my father. Therefore, I have a better relationship with him than my mother.

[Philosophia]

My dads alright. He's a bit of an arrogant pig sometimes, treats my sister like sh!t, yet if you stand up to him he respects you in some way.
He did some pretty terrible and unforgivable things in the past (when I was a child) and I won't forgive him for it.
Edited to add: My parents are still together after 31 years.

[Zoritsa_Nepenthe]

Mine divorced when I was 11 or 12,I think...it's been so long now.It was awkward....my Dad still loved my Mom and took the divorce extremely hard...so between him being hearbroken and sick all the time,I had always taken more to him then my Mom,but I got to know him well early on.I can only try to imagine trying to bond some sort of parental/child relationship with your Dad when your parents divorced when you were so young.I can't imagine that to be an easy thing.

[person of shadow]

I'd see him a couple of times a month.

[Brónach Druid]

I had a good relationship with my dad when I was little. Then as a teenager, I hated him. He drove me crazy. Now that I am older, I have a good relationship with him again. I love him, he really is a great guy.
Looking at the other posts, I guess I should add my parents are still married. This July is their 38th Anniversary.

[DreamSpell333]

I have had a wonderful relationship with my father. He used to take me fishing,and even took me to work with him int he summers. I learnt early how to paint and do drywall! :) He was always there for me and still is. I moved a couple states away,but I still call him and my mom every few days..sometimes on a daily basis..:) I had a somewhat bad relationship with my mom once i became a teenager,but once i moved out,our relationship has gotten alot better.
Im sorry for all of you who didnt have good relationships..:hugz:

[Astara Seague]

not until I was marride and we were trapped in a car together for about 4 hours so whatelse could we do but talk?

[Infinite Grey]

My Dad and I are great mates! We'll sit there any call each other names, trying to out do each other in crudity and vulgarity... We have a lot in common, and often get into heated debates... one debate has been raging now for nearly 8 years... fun stuff.

There is a lot about my Dad that I could have gotten bitter about, and I've known people to ignore their parents for less... but it's not in me to cut them out, I really do not see the point.

[Silvan]

Interesting question. Do I? I have no idea what my father thinks about me, or anyone else.

I live next door to him, and he walks his dog through my yard every day, but we rarely speak. He's a man of few words. An enigma. Mom doesn't know him very well either, and they have been married for whatever my current age is. It just changed Friday. 34? 34 years.

[Willow Rosette]

My father wasnt around much. I remember as a child calling and setting times and stuff to do things with him or inviting him to birthday things and him not showing up. Then as a teenager I lived with him for awhile and proceeded to be a run away for several years and I said things about him I shouldnt have. It was a rift that was never fixed while he was alive. But after he died of a blood clot things started to happen. My TV turns on when I forget to turn it on for my favorite show. Things happen that cant be explained. Right away I knew it was him letting me know that we were good. So although we didnt have a relationship when he was alive he is here playing jokes on me now and letting me know he does love me and forgives me for the things I did and I have forgiven him for the hurts I had as well.

[Catiana]

I have a very good relationship with my father, although I don't see him as often as I would like since we live so far apart, but we talk often.

[CheshireEyes]

I was just wondering.


I did when I was little but not anymore. It stopped when I was about 14. I was tired of having to call him, he would never call me. Plus the fact that he punched my brother in the face for a stupid reason.(no slap, Punch, and his wife had my brother in a head lock when he did it.)


I'm so sorry you had to go thru that. That's terrible. I'm so sorry...

[person of shadow]

I'm so sorry you had to go thru that. That's terrible. I'm so sorry...
You're sweet, thanks.

[CheshireEyes]

You're sweet, thanks.

As are you, which makes me all the more sad for what you've dealt with. You have come through the shadows, you need but look up to the rising dawn.

[KaidaMidnight]

I'm about the same as Joli du Mort. My mom left my father and I when I was 8, so I've always had a closer relationship with my father then I have my mother. Even now, we talk on the phone at least once a week, and email eachother. Our relationship was a little rocky when he married my step mom, but once I realized that she wasnt taking him from me, we all got along great. :D

[Laoghaire]

I love my dad... Always will. I'm the eldest girl and I think that makes the difference. Quite strange though, I've noticed, because my brother adores my mother. I can't get between them and sometimes that's very frustrating.

No, my dad now, not my mother. *whispers* She's a complicated person.
My dad used to take me everywhere with hem. Even if he just went to the baker for a bread. I was always with him. But, after two years, everything changed. My parents finally had enough money and our house was being build. My father did a lot of work by himself. All of a sudden, I wasn't allowed to come along with him. Tears! Next to that, my mother was pregnant. *yikes* A new person in my life? I got so frustrated by all this that I became ill. Headache and all sort of thing... Together with psoriasis...

Now, 17 years later, I still adore my father. He has a hard time time this year and I try to help him when I can. He means everything to me. His opinion on whatever is also very important. A couple of weeks ago, he opened my eyes about the boyfriend I had at that time. That was very hard, but now I realise (and I don't like to admit it) that he was right...

Mmm, when I read the stories here, I'm quite strange...

[WokeUpDead]

Not really good or bad. I've just never been very close with anyone.

[AutumnWitchie]

My father will never forgive me for growing up and becoming me. When I was little, I was daddy's girl. He worked hard during the week and on the weekends he'd pack us up and go camping, fishing, hunting, etc. Then, when I was 10, we lost everything in a tornado. Since then, my father has been obsessed with working and buying land. Its just been in the last couple of years that he started to slow down. After the tornado, my father didn't seem to have time for "family time", only work to have money to buy more amd more land. As a result he didn't notice that us kids were growing up. I guess it made him angry to realize when I was 20 that I had become a strong independant woman and he couldn'd control me anymore. The tornado made him a control freak. We had several "knock-down-drag-out" fights over the years because I refused to back down and be someone I wasn't. He hates my hubby because hubby has stood up to him right along side me. I understand that my grandmother did alot of damage to his psyche as he was growing up(you'd have to know the old woman like I do). My father and I have a very shaky relationship now due to his attepts to control me even now. Right now there is an uneasy truce between us because of my son/his grandson. I sincerely hope that as he gets older and looks back on his life that we may develope a better relationship and he will accept me for being me. It doesn't help that I am the only one of us 3 kids who can stand my ground with my father(or maybe it does as I'm the only one he doesn't deliberately start arguements with). He knows the rules....do not hit my child and do not cuss my son out or I will stop all contact. I have warned my father that I will never allow Dylan to go through the crap I did. Didn't mean for that to be so long! Sorry!

[HorseCrow]

I have, and always have had, a wonderful relationship with my father (and my mother and siblings too). My father is a very mild and loving man and he is my idol when it comes to fatherhood.

[misschief]

my dad is one of my best friends... seriously. it hasn't always been that way. when i was really young, like 5 and younger, i idolized my dad, but he had some drug problems, was an alcoholic, and various other things... when i was 5 he left my mom and i and moved to the other side of the country. when i was 7, my mom let him come back and i didn't want anything to do with him regardless of how hard he tried. i didn't realize until i was 19 or 20 that my dad really HAD changed, from that point on we've had a great relationship.

[WitchOfEndor]

I was close with my Dad till I became a teenager & did'nt agree with him blindly. I moved out on my own when I was 19 because he & I fought so much. My Mama just passed away April 11th & I was hoping our shared grief would bring my Dad & myself closer but it's just made me more aware of the gulf the stands between us. He's more interested in my brothers & just does'nt know how to relate to me , they are all laid back, I'm the opposite & they can all be "guys" together. I've never been included when they've gone fishing, etc, I was always left with Mama. To be honest, as pityful as this sounds coming from a 35 year old woman, I feel like an orphan now that Mama is gone. I've tried to bring all this out in the open to hash through it but Dad is non confrontational & avoids anything that may be uncomfortable.
I'd like to help Dad, he & Mom were married for 48 years & I know he must be so lonely but he won't let me in. :(
Sorry for the vent! I'm not pityful all the time, honest!!!

[Mouse]

*Big hugs* WitchOfEndor.

I never knew my father, he died when I was about 18 months old and I never regreted not knowing him. Ma ran away from him when he attempted to throw me through a plate-glass second story window, so had he lived, I still probably wouldn't have met him.

It's very rare that you hear any stories about good parents, especially fathers. My S.O's father used to kick him repeatedly in the face as a toddler, for example. It's very sad, if you think about it.

[WillowsMuse]

Let's see....
No, no, no, no, and ummm, no. bio dad-saw him twice, died about 10 years ago. adopted dad was great until he and my mom divorced when i was 12, then i guess the no-wife-no-daughter clause kicked in. and my mom's most recent three husbands weren't worth their $50 wedding bands.


:hugz:

[The Oracle]

My father is everything I hate in others, self centred, materialistic, greedy ect ect. I didn't realise how bad he was until a few years back when my brother convinced me to go with him to see my dad as he was going to be in the area for while (parents divorced years ago, he's remarried and lives in spain now), I figure that the meeting was probably the last time I'll see him, he may be my father, but I don't have to like him, and I couldn't ever like the person he is. I'm just so glad that I'm so very different from him.

[semi]

My father died---drowning in his own blood while still conscious on the operating table during his 4th cancer operation---when I was 19 or 20, I don't remember exactly. He was never around much before that and when he was it was usually very crappy due to his alcoholism. He started trying to be around me and trying to be a father of some sort when I was 18, by which point in my life I had become an absolute monster of a drug addict, alcoholic, and criminal. My attitude toward him at that time was "Who the F are you? What's this "dad" thing you're talking about?" When he died my only regret was that I did not kill him myself.

I have mellowed since then, learned a lot, grown a lot, cleaned up, and freed myself from my personal demons. I have found the strength to be the person I really am instead of the monster I had to be to survive. I have talked with my father since his death and have come to a peace with him. I thanked him for doing his best, even though he was never able to find the strength to defeat his own demons. I thanked him for helping to make me strong, for being a part of the hell that made me what I am today. He was not a "dad," but he served a valuable purpose for me, helping me become strong and learn to survive on my own from a very early age. Everything's cool between us now.

I also learned from him, after he had died, that he was not only battling alcoholism during life, but depression as well. He was still sad in death and came around me sometimes, still trying to make amends. So We made amends and I sent him on his way. I only just recently added his photo to the shrine I have for my ancestors.

And the moral of the story is: sometimes your parents are not the best of parents. Everyone has their demons to battle. Sometimes the demons get in the way of good parenting. Don't hold bitterness toward someone just because they were not what you wanted them to be, unable to find the strength to conquer their demons. Everyone does what they need to do for their own growth. It sucks when those needs take your parents away, but maybe learning to survive without parents is what you need. In that way, everything works out ok.

[Morr]

Hmmm.

I'm a daddy's girl.
Always was.

But my relationship with my father is not a tight one. Our conversations range from school, work, sometimes politics, our dog. Thats pretty much it.

Only in the past couple of months have I opened up to him (and my mom) about my private life, ie. my relationship with semi and our upcoming wedding.

He is just there, I guess. Just like my mom.
We were closer when I was younger, but not anymore.

He gets me what I want and need, materialistic-wise. They always support me financially. Emotionally, not so much.

They are trying right now to help out and be more into whats going on with the wedding, etc.

I have a wierd relationship with my parents. Though in their defense, I was fortunate and I never experienced any sort of physical abuse from them.

ETA: They are married still. Almost 30 years now.

[Moonlite Faery]

I had a good relationship with my dad when I was a kid, then it kinda sucked up until my junior year of high school then it got better. I have a pretty good relationship with my dad now. He has done some great things and some pretty crummy things, but what dad hasnt? My parents are still together and have been married for about 35 years I think.

[DoktorSick]

My dad spilt before I was born.
I have never had any contact with him.
And I plan on it staying that way.
I don't know his name and I don't know
what he looks like and really don't care to find out.
My wife took it upon herself to do some snooping on the
net to see if she could fing a general area of where he could possible be.
I told that I wish wouldn't do that and to stop because I don't
want to know.
It's not that i have this burning hatred towards but just that'
I'm 33 years now and I lived at the same places until I was around
25 and my grandmother still has the same address she has around
the time my mom met him and I have yet to recieve one card or
letter or phone call.
To me that's kinda fucked up.So to sum it up I don't have a good religions with that man.

[Kalika]

I was always a "Daddy's Girl" growing up. I thought he could do no wrong. Around age 12, I began to realize he wasn't perfect... but I was still pretty close to him.

Now, we don't speak, for various reasons. :(

[MysticWitch]

Not "close" but a good relationship non the less .:hahugh:

[Childof_theMorrigan]

my dad was only 21 when I was born... and it was only a few years before he had 2 kids and was raising them on his own... my mom and he divorced and she moved on. My dad fought for custody and he won. It was the best thing that ever happened to my brother and I.

He eventually remarried... and I'm glad he's happy ... they have an amazing relationship together even though her relationship with my brother and i is strained.

I always was daddys little girl.... but he understands that i'm his grown up girl now so although we don't talk much about pressing things, I know he loves me and I'm content in that.

[Malcolm]

heh, I had four by the time I was 18...Ma marries alot...most people date, ma gets married...

I never got along with any of them. I didn't meet my real father till I was around 19, honestly...at that point what did he have to offer. So, no. I don't have a relationship with him...the rest of them can kiss my ass to this day. :)

[RubyRose]

To be honest, I think my sister and my dad have the better relationship. My dad and I get on well enough I suppose.

[Meadhbh]

No is not a strong enough word.