My Childhood Revisited
“Tell me about when you were ten, Kim,” the therapist asked. This was not a psychological therapist, but an Integrative Manual Therapist that I went to see a few days ago. IMTs use a total body approach to treat physical ailments, working with all the body systems, which would, of course, include the emotional components as they have such a huge effect on our physical wellbeing. They certainly have taken a toll on mine.
I don’t remember much of my childhood, but I have one memory of my tenth year that has always stood out to me. I told the therapist about the family vacation we took to Washington, DC. As with all vacations that have included my father, it was miserable. We were touring the sights of our nation’s capital, which should have been fun, but it wasn’t. We went to take a tour of the Mint, and see how money was made. In his typical selfish, ungentlemanly behavior, my father had my mother drop us off in front of the Mint and then go find a parking place. We waited and waited and waited for my mother. As my sister and I became more and more frightened for her safety, my father became more and more angry. Finally, he forced us to go take the tour without her. ‘He’d show her’ was his attitude. We didn’t want to go; we wanted to wait for mom. I don’t remember a thing about the tour; I only remember worrying about my mother. Why wasn’t my father worried about his wife alone in a big city, I wondered? When we finally came out, my mother had arrived. She had spent all that time driving around trying to find a parking space, and then had to walk a long way to get to us. I’m sure she was stressed, frustrated and upset, and my dad was still angry with her for inconveniencing him. He spoiled the day, punishing my mother with his cold, hostile attitude. Another seed of hate towards my father was planted in me that day - one of many.
