I'm new here and the last thing I want to do is bore everyone else to death with my problems, but this is something that's been affecting me a lot lately. My parents were divorced when I was 6 months old, and in 23 years, I had never met my dad (or had any contact with him). After years of searching for my dad, I finally found him in September. We were both very excited. It turned out my dad had wanted to meet me as much as I'd wanted to meet him. We started talking on the phone, at least twice a week. In October, my mother informed me that she had lost her job (I think she quit, but that's a totally different story), and we would soon not have a place to live. My dad decided I should come to New York to live with him. I was very excited, because I had always wanted not only to meet my dad, but also his kids (my half-brothers and sisters) and his wife (who he said was excited too). At first things went great. From the moment I stepped off the bus in Batavia, NY, it seemed my dad and I would get along just great, and it stayed that way for a while. However, after the first few days, things quickly started to go downhill. No one there seemed willing to accept me anymore. For one thing, everyone claimed I was too demanding, when all I ever did was ask my dad to tell my brother (one of them... the other one didn't live at home at the time) and my sisters to stop cussing and telling crude jokes. I told him it made me feel quite uncomfortable. But every time I did, he just claimed that I wasn't willing to compromise... then he started to always run out to the garage when I wanted to talk to him... he told me that's where he went to be alone... or he would tell me there was nothing to talk about. I became really depressed. It seemed my dad's only intention for bringing me to NY was to see if her could get me to change to be like his family (and I wasn't about to lower myself to their standard). I was thinking about suicide a lot, which I hadn't done in years, and in November I actually attempted it. After that, my sisters started stealing from me, and my dad kept telling me everything was my fault. I decided I'd much rather go back to Iowa (my mother had moved in with a friend). The day I left, I overheard my dad talking to a "friend" of his, who told him that I had told her that I thought my dad was treating me like cr*p (excuse the language... she used a much stronger word), and that I thought he was paying more attention to my sisters and that I told her I thought he was conspiring with my sisters to mysteriously make all my stuff "disappear" and a bunch of other lies. (And she's a Christian, too 
) My dad told her that if I was like that he wanted nothing to do with me, and I guess he never really did anyway... He wouldn't even allow me to tell him my side of the story to see which one he wanted to believe... he automatically chose to belive his "friend". The truth was that SHE had told ME that she didn't like the way that my dad was treating me, and that they used to treat my brother (the one who didn't live at home) the same way. All I did was tell her that I was disappointed that my dad and I weren't communicating, and that at times it felt like he didn't care about me because he was always avoiding me. She then went on to complain about me spending Thanksgiving at her sister's house... I never even made plans to go there. I was invited, but I told them I would only come if my dad said it was ok. I knew he wouldn't want me to, because he'd want me to spend the day at home. I didn't have a problem with that. It seems, though, that they decided to call him and tell him that I had already committed to coming over there. My dad just assumed that they were telling the truth, and he wouldn't give me a choice. So I went. Then a couple of weeks ago, I sent him a Christmas card... sure I used the card as an excuse to tell him how I felt (I had a feeling he wouldn't read a letter if I wrote him one), but I wasn't mean. I tolf him that I hoped he would learn to accept me, and stop trying to change me. He wrote me this long letter about how everything that's happened to him the past couple of months was my fault, and how I drove away his "friends". I have a feeling they're just not coming around anymore because they feel guilty about lying to him... and I don't think coming back to Iowa was a good idea either, because my mother always screams obcsenities at me, and she loves to sit and act like a two-year-old... I just don't have anywhere else to go right now...
Anway, sorry that was so long, but I really need prayers right now. I want my dad to realize that I love him no matter what, and that I can tell him that somehow... I want to write him, but I've had so many angry thoughts lately, I'm afraid I'll just blow up at him. I also want to find a way to make my mother realzie she's not helping our relationship by acting the way she does...
) My dad told her that if I was like that he wanted nothing to do with me, and I guess he never really did anyway... He wouldn't even allow me to tell him my side of the story to see which one he wanted to believe... he automatically chose to belive his "friend". The truth was that SHE had told ME that she didn't like the way that my dad was treating me, and that they used to treat my brother (the one who didn't live at home) the same way. All I did was tell her that I was disappointed that my dad and I weren't communicating, and that at times it felt like he didn't care about me because he was always avoiding me. She then went on to complain about me spending Thanksgiving at her sister's house... I never even made plans to go there. I was invited, but I told them I would only come if my dad said it was ok. I knew he wouldn't want me to, because he'd want me to spend the day at home. I didn't have a problem with that. It seems, though, that they decided to call him and tell him that I had already committed to coming over there. My dad just assumed that they were telling the truth, and he wouldn't give me a choice. So I went. Then a couple of weeks ago, I sent him a Christmas card... sure I used the card as an excuse to tell him how I felt (I had a feeling he wouldn't read a letter if I wrote him one), but I wasn't mean. I tolf him that I hoped he would learn to accept me, and stop trying to change me. He wrote me this long letter about how everything that's happened to him the past couple of months was my fault, and how I drove away his "friends". I have a feeling they're just not coming around anymore because they feel guilty about lying to him... and I don't think coming back to Iowa was a good idea either, because my mother always screams obcsenities at me, and she loves to sit and act like a two-year-old... I just don't have anywhere else to go right now...Anway, sorry that was so long, but I really need prayers right now. I want my dad to realize that I love him no matter what, and that I can tell him that somehow... I want to write him, but I've had so many angry thoughts lately, I'm afraid I'll just blow up at him. I also want to find a way to make my mother realzie she's not helping our relationship by acting the way she does...
