I have the most amazing son. It is my hope that one day his biological father reads this post and it stirs something in him to make things right. I doubt that will ever happen, but a mom can hope.
I was married 2 1/2 years when I got pregnant with Chad. I wasn't even suppose to have a child so it was a miracle that I never expected. He has truly blessed my life since May 25, 1988 and it continues to this day. Before he was 4 years old his father and I divorced and it was a very sad and painful situation that I won't go into. What has caused much heartache is the fact that his father basically became a dead beat dad and I never thought for a moment that he would have turned out that way. To fast forward a bit, Chad graduated high school and out of the blue his father showed up. He was nose to nose with Chad and didn't recognize him. It tore Chad up. He never got to actually speak to his father that night nor did his father attempt to contact him or even give him a gift or card for graduation. After being out of school for a year Chad came to Tebo and I and said he wanted to join the Marine Corps. I asked him to think about his decision for at least 3 months and after 3 months he still wanted to join we would support him 100%. After 3 months he came to us and said he was sure this is what he wanted to do. We did what we said we would do and we support him 100% even though our country was in the midst of a war. It was the hardest and proudest moment of my life as his mom. I stood by his side from the moment he stepped on that bus in Kansas City in October 2008 when he left for boot camp and have taken every step with him to this current day. He went through boot camp and SOI and has already had his first deployment to Iraq in Jan. 2009. He returned from Iraq and a week later married the love of his life. His father was aware that his son deployed and when he would return, but he never once attempted to contact me to know how he was doing or if he was ok the entire time he was deployed. Once he got on MySpace and sent a message through a neighbor that Chad had never heard of before and just said your dad says to tell you hey. Really? Who does that? Ugh! Anyway, that actually bothered Chad more than if his dad never made an attempt to reach out to him. Then knowing his son had returned to the states he didn't attempt to contact him even though he knew Chad had his cell phone and could be reached. He also knew about Chad getting married and once again he never reached out to him at all! Chad struggled with whether to invite his dad to his wedding, but he didn't expect him to come anyway and didn't want any drama that it might bring so he chose to keep it very small and not invite him. Chad truly struggled with that decision, but after his father made no attempt to contact him after his deployment to war he felt his father didn't care anyway. How sad is that? Now Chad is married and living in CA and preparing for his 2nd and hopefully last deployment and his father has yet to contact him. It will soon be 2 years since Chad has heard from his father. How heartbreaking is that? I am so thankful that Chad has Katie in his life now. I can't always be by his side, but knowing he has a loving wife there when I can't be gives me much comfort. It's a shame that his father will never know the man Chad has become or the husband he is (no thanks to him at all) and I am sure the day he becomes a father himself he will be an amazing daddy. Terry Wade, if you ever do read this I hope it bothers you so much that you lose sleep every night until you make things right with your son. I love that boy with all my heart and now he has a wonderful wife to love him as well and he has a bonus dad that loves him too. Thank the Lord for Tebo who has stepped in and not only been a good bonus dad to him, but has also showed him how to be a good husband in the short amount of time he had to do so. Thank you Tebo for all you've done to help in the last few years that my baby boy lived at home. Chad, if you ever see this post I am sorry for airing your dad's dirty laundry, but I need you to know how very proud I am of not only you, but your wonderful wife too. You have become an amazing man despite the lack of a good father in your life up until you were 18 years old. You never cease to amaze me and I look forward to all the amazing things you will continue to accomplish in life with Katie by your side. I love you with all my heart. Love, mom
No comments:
Post a Comment