COLOR BLIND
We Were a Unique Unlikely Pair but I Never Knew It
He shined shoes as I watched and talked
When I was twelve, I lived with my Dad in California for a short time.
I adored him. He worked in a body shop that also repaired glass. I loved being in the shop and watching everything. I also loved being with my Dad because I didn’t get much time with him.
He was a simple man who had a terrible childhood, though he seldom talked about it. Yet, he was a wonderful father.
My Mother separated from him and didn’t let me spend much time with my Dad. He loved me with all his heart and treated me like his little princess, so being at the shop with him was wonderful.
I didn’t play with dolls like other little girls.
I played army with the boys in the neighborhood, and I had a collection of plastic soldiers who engaged in battles and plastic horses that I made prance and run. I was an only child and had to entertain myself.
One day, I got mad at the boys because they always made me the nurse. I wanted to be a soldier. They finally gave in and then got mad because I was good and I killed some of them with my finger gun.
