Personal Narrative Essay: How I Forgave My Father

I forgave my father as I grew older and learned that just because someone communicates differently then you do it doesn’t make them wrong. Once I was able to find my own voice and stand up for myself our relationship became much clearer. The pragmatic and sarcastic personality I had been so afraid of as a child seemed to be much more understandable as I discovered that I had the same personality too.

I forgave my father once I accepted the fact that he was human, and not a superhero. Sometimes I believe that children put their parents on a pedestal and forget that their parents are human, which means they make mistakes too. In reflecting on my harsh judgment of my dad I’m often drawn to another quote from For One More Day by Mitch Albom.

Over a year ago I finally had the courage to seek psychiatric care for issues I had been dealing with for over fifteen years. In getting a diagnosis for my Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. After struggling with mental health issues alone for such a long time this past year has been a tremendous learning experience for me in finally understanding how and why I act the way that I do. Being able to learn more about the needs I have in regards to communication with others, has been helpful in establishing boundaries with talking to certain people. I’m thankful that I was able to get the help I needed because I learned how to take accountability for my own fears and triggers instead of mistakenly placing them onto the actions of others, like my dad. Overall, I truly believe that this diagnosis has been helpful in mending the relationship I have with my

I push high standards on myself in order to make my parents proud of me, but I’ve learned that they love me no matter who I am or what I do in life. Learning about myself and connecting all of the factors that made my relationship with my dad difficult for a short period has taught me that I can overcome any challenge life puts in front of me. I know that I will be able to reflect on this bump in our relationship one day and see that I have made more positive changes for myself and for the relationship I continue to share with my dad. This difficult experience has made me the open-minded, communicative person I am today; I value the opportunity to share my experiences and knowledge with others in hopes of helping them broaden their own personalities and bettering their personal relationships with others as