An Essay about my Stepmother

pupsingh
Mon, 08 Nov 2004 20:07:31 +0000

The Road to Sunlight
My palms were sweating as I was sitting in a shiny, blue rental van. I had a novel
in my hand, but could not open it because I couldn’t stop thinking about what was to come. Today was the day of the trip to Disneyland that I had been waiting for. However, I wasn’t waiting to get to Disneyland, I was waiting anxiously to get it over with, because I had a feeling the trip wouldn’t be a success. All I cared about at this point was getting through the grueling, eight hour road trip without problems, so my dad wouldn’t feel like he had wasted all his effort planning it. As much as I hoped the mood wouldn’t suffer during the drive, I expected it to because I knew my stepmother wouldn’t let peace shed its light. She was that kind of person–always trying to ruin any chance of peace. Because she was both wealthy and miserable, she always tried to use her wealth to ruin others’ happiness. I constantly expressed anger over this, creating a dark cloud over my family. Thus, my family became disunited, and this trip would be a test to see if the dispute could be repaired. The quarrel was not broken during this drive, and never would be. However, through various occurrences on the drive, I realized many truths about myself and society which I had no idea of hitherto.
They years preceding this trip were building blocks leading to tension in our family. It took long periods of fighting, arguing, and constant bickering to bring this clash to its peak. As a result, an annoying friction constantly hovered over us. Likewise, a gray cloud filled with thundering storms lingers over an area about to be struck with showers, the way tension loomed over our fragile family. Yet, it was time to look beyond this because the daunting years had given way to the morning of the trip, the same way gray clouds occasionally give way to rays of sunlight. Nevertheless, my situation was far from sunny. My stepmother, as usual, was constantly complaining and bickering about meaningless issues–her way of spoiling any excitement caused by the trip. This angered me because I knew she was doing this purposely, and I felt a need to retaliate. I stopped all conversation with my step mom and step brother, and to my delight, they were infuriated because they didn’t appreciate being shunned by me. However, my dad sent a frustrated look that said, “ Why cant’ you just deal with it?”. He wanted me to be patient with them, because it would make me a better person.
Through my dad’s silent message, I realize it is often more fulfilling to be patient than vindictive, because a vindictive attitude will only lead to further destruction. Conversely, a patient mindset will lead to personal improvement and will relieve unnecessary tension; their meaningless tactics, in reality, had no effect on my life. I had created this entire conflict in my mind So in essence, I fell victim to my own consciousness. I tortured myself by letting this cloud continue to hover because of my own lack of tolerance. As a result, this moment better helped me understand that people are naturally impatient and vindictive, and that it is the obligation of people to better themselves by learning from frustration and anger. The day I got out of that van and into Disneyland, I looked up at the sky and the sun was shining down on me, because I, myself, had broken through the clouds.