Multimodal Narrative

So Long, George

Have you ever known been so oblivious and focused on your own life you didn’t realize what was actually going on? What could be more important than getting through every day of high school? Between school and sports and a social life and getting ready for college, there wasn’t time for stuff that weren’t directly related to those things. I mean as far as I was concerned, I was busy all the time and what was going on with me was most important.

I remember the day they sat me down, just a random day after school at the end of my junior year. I was almost sure of what they were about to say. Surely they would say don’t worry Emma, we’ve been fighting but it’s all going to be fine. I mean from what I could tell, things seemed better. Sure, I was living at my dad’s house so I wasn’t around for most of what was going on anymore but really how could things be that bad. I haven’t seen mom cry in a while and George was doing his usual crazy before the sun comes up workouts. It was all normal to me.

My immediate reaction was shocking. I didn’t think I’d be that upset and crying uncontrollably. I knew this was always an option. But they’ve been together for, what, 14 years. That could be wrong I stopped keeping track after 8 years. I didn’t think they would actually go through with it. Plenty of people stay married when they shouldn’t. I just figured things would work themselves out. But no, here it comes. This was really happening. No more pretending nothing is wrong or wondering what is going on. They were getting a divorce, already going through a separation period. This was all going so fast. I didn’t understand. Later of course I realized that my mom wasn’t happy and that a divorce was the best thing.

But what would happen to George? He was trying so hard to make things work. He told me he would still be in my life and he still loved me. Could that even be true though? Why would he want to stick around anyway when he wasn’t required to anymore? Things wouldn’t be the same. What about Kim, my stepsister? Would she still be my stepsister? She was my favorite person to hang out with and I looked up to her. Would she still take me to the mall or out to eat?

I’m not going to lie; I wasn’t the nicest to George. I would complain so much when he would put NPR on during the ride to school every morning. I would beg him to take me to fast food places, even though he hated all my favorites. Sometimes I would just be mean to him for no reason. I was just being a brat. But it what would it be like without him? Who would I joke with? Mom certainly didn’t have any sense of humor. I got my sarcasm from George. I had known him since I was four years old. He was my step dad. He brought me to gymnastics every Saturday for a year, sitting in the car listening to Car Talk on the radio the whole time. He would get me Mary Lee’s donuts after, even though they repulsed him. I still remember the first time he bought be a present, before he and my mom were married. That was it for me, I knew this guy was pretty awesome, but I was only four and anyone who bought me a toy was the best. He even gave me Kim’s old Barbie car to ride around and play in. He drove me to school when we lived in Watson, which was at least a half hour ride. I learned the importance of saving electricity from him, and I never really appreciated it until I started living on my own. I will never forget his favorite saying, “You eat to live, you don’t live to eat”, which he loved to say when my brother and I wouldn’t finish our dinners. He helped me with math homework, and is the only reason I could figure out the “Harsh Question” every week sophomore year in geometry.

It is weird to not see George every time I go home, to be in my mom’s house without him around. Now he lives in Kansas City, taking care of his granddaughter. He still sends texts for holidays or even just to let me know he was thinking about me. It is hard to realize that things are never going to be the same, and that I didn’t really take advantage of the time I had with him. To me, he will always be my stepdad.