in the background. The hardest thing for me about visiting my father is when I have to leave, and that makes me feel bad—and mad—inside. I still wish I could see him every day like I did when I was little. It’s hard to live with just one person, because you don’t have enough company, though my Mom has lots of great baby-sitters and that helps a little. Patrick Kilpatrick is one of my sitters, and it’s comforting for me to have another guy around to do stuff with—like he takes me for rides on his bike and we play baseball together. We can do a lot more daredevil activities than I could ever do with my Mom. Patrick has never met my father, but sometimes we talk about him. He encourages me to talk about anything that’s troubling me and reminds me I have a lot to be grateful for—like how great Mommy is and how I can visit my father whenever it’s possible. I hope my Mom never gets remarried because I just wouldn’t like anybody else to try and take the place of my Dad. But sometimes when she’s dating one man a lot and he’s nice to me, I can’t help wishing he was my Daddy. I told her that if she did ever want a husband, I have a list of choices and it would be nice if she could pick someone who could help me play with my computer. I wouldn’t mind if my Daddy got remarried because maybe they’d have another kid and to tell you the truth I would really like to have a younger brother. But I wouldn’t want my Mom to have a baby because it would live with us and then I’d have to share all my toys. Still, what I really really really want, deep down, is that my Dad doesn’t get remarried and my Mom doesn’t, either. What I’m just hoping and hoping more than anything is that they’ll get back together again” (Krementz 71-72). ...
