Dear “Father Figure,”
You always said I would never make it far. According to you, my mother should’ve shipped me off to bordering school once I entered the sixth grade. That would’ve made your life a lot easier wouldn’t it? My mom is so blinded by her love she doesn’t see it. You despise me. You always have. It didn’t start because I did something wrong or anything like that. I mean in the end I was only four when you met my mother. Yeah, you were nice at first, but once you had my mom hooked you showed your true colors.
I thought you actually wanted us all to be a family. I believed you so much I wrote that letter to stork you asked me to about a little sibling. Now I have my sister. I’m happy she didn’t get your genes. She’s so caring and sweet it’s hard to see how she could be your daughter but she is. Every day since she’s been born I fight to somehow remain in the family. With her around you didn’t need me anymore, but my mother did and that infuriates you. You hate the thought that if my mother had to choose between me and you she’d pick me but that’s just logic. I’m blood from her blood and you’re her self-centered annoying husband.
You do everything in your power to make every day I’m home on vacation or simply visiting the worst days of my life. It wasn’t different this time around when I came back for summer. The first day you told me that I wasn’t wanted in the house and that even my mother agreed but she couldn’t say it. You made me cry which is something that hadn’t happened since I left for college.
Throughout my life you always told me I was unwanted and that I would never get to where I wanted. Here I am now though. Yes, your words hurt and they affected my self-esteem. At one point I thought you were right and that I was good for nothing, but as I finish my first year of college, I can look you in your eyes and say you were wrong. You were wrong about my abilities and about how others perceived me.
In college, I found myself no longer thinking about how fat I was or how much I ate because you were no longer there make fun of me for it. I found myself loving who I was and who I was becoming. I smiled more and cried less. I found friends that accepted me for who I was and didn't judge me for it. They don't pick out flaws and they are there when I need them. They made a place for me in their hearts and made me feel better. I wasn’t hated because of my personality or my looks. I was an introvert because of the person you made me think I was.
Thanks for nothing,
Your Stepdaugther
