#early-onset

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First fic on Ao3 :) Be nice please... 

It's been about 4 months since I've seen dad. He hasn't changed a bit. In fact, he looks even better than before, if that's possible. Might just be wishful thinking (seeing). So I joked around with him and asked if he recognized me with pink hair--of course I have no idea if he knows who I am, but he smiled at my smile and that's all I need. I've been thinking a lot lately about how we are affected by our parents. How they shape us into the adults we are, and what we give them credit for or place blame on them for in our lives. Our attitudes, our reactions, the way we deal with situations. Taking responsibility for our own lives and actions is a hard thing to do--especially if our actions aren't desirable--but a huge part of growing up and growing as a person. Being at the nursing home is really hard. It would be easy to use this as an excuse to be sad all the time or treat people poorly. In fact, I did. Poor me, my life sucks, I'm gonna take it out on you, PAL. Don't get me wrong, it still affects me. Just now I got a little teared up seeing another resident at the home who had regressed so far since I last saw her that she was almost unrecognizable. But instead of sulking or letting it feed my anger as it used to, seeing her (and dad, of course) makes me thankful I have my health, my family, my friends and moments like I had this morning, pushing my niece on a swing. We were just asked to step out of the room so they could change dad's diaper. We are "visiting" with our dad by talking to him in animated voices reserved for babies for a bit to coax him out of his shell and we get a smile in response at most. So be thankful for what you have. Stop blaming others for what you don't have. Life is amazing when you appreciate the little things and our parents are only human; they did the best with what they had. You have the power to be as happy and appreciative as you want. Remember what you have and use it to your advantage. Isn't life great?