{"article":{"id":200878,"heading":"Fatherless Day","author":"daughter","created":"2007-06-16 22:15:16","modified":"2007-06-16 22:37:04","last_modified":"Sun, 17 Jun 2007 05:37:04","article":"<p>Fatherless Day <br><br> We were <br>  <br> a family. <br><br> Daddy, Mommy, <br>  <br> my two brothers, <br>  <br> my three-legged dog, <br>  <br> and my parakeet, Charlie. <br><br> Together we nurtured <br>  <br> each other. <br>  <br> Daddy hugged Mommy. <br>  <br> My brothers and I hugged <br>  <br> our parents. <br>  <br> My dog licked me silly. <br>  <br> Charlie chirped to our family dance. <br><br> And we WERE family. <br>  <br> Complete. <br>  <br> Adjusted. <br>  <br> Life flowed. <br>  <br> Predictable. <br><br> And then Daddy went away. <br>  <br> I heard words of war. <br>  <br> I heard words of far-away places. <br>  <br> I heard words of sorrow. <br>  <br> My mommy's smiling face <br>  <br> became tear-stained. <br><br> Daddy was in Iraq. <br>  <br> And no one talked to me about it. <br>  <br> No one talked to my brothers about it. <br>  <br> But dinner time became quiet. <br>  <br> And our stability as a family, <br>  <br> well, wasn't. <br><br> And night time became <br>  <br> NIGHTMARE time. <br>  <br> Because those tears on <br>  <br> mommy's tear-stained face <br>  <br> Somehow became my tears. <br><br> And my brothers fought. <br>  <br> And I fought with them. <br>  <br> And Mommy YELLED <br>  <br> at us. <br>  <br> And our adjusted family <br>  <br> became MALadjusted. <br><br> And then the unspeakable <br>  <br> spoke. <br>  <br> One day, I was playing <br>  <br> with my dog, <br>  <br> And Charlie was trying <br>  <br> to chirp the family dance. <br>  <br> When the door knocked. <br>  <br> And two men were there. <br>  <br> Two men in military uniform. <br><br> And my mommy opened the <br>  <br> door. <br>  <br> And she screamed, <br>  <br> And I screamed, because <br>  <br> my mommy was terrified. <br><br> And the dog barked, <br>  <br> and Charlie flew out the front door. <br>  <br> And the men talked in low <br>  <br> voices and left us. <br><br> And now our family, isn't so much <br>  <br> anymore. <br>  <br> Because nothing seems to matter to <br>  <br> my mommy, my brothers, or my three-legged dog. <br>  <br> Charlie never came back. <br>  <br> Just like my daddy. <br><br> And this Sunday <br>  <br> will be Fatherless Day for my family, <br>  <br>  AGAIN. <br>  <br> Why do adults kill each other? <br>  <br> Daddy, why? <br>  <br> <\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Fatherless Day","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2007\/06\/200878.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":200884,"heading":"-Why do adults kill each other?-","article":"They don't want to, it tears holes in the world and the sorrow is infinite.\r\nAs was the evil of the lies that lead them beyond our love. ","author":"sd","parent_id":200878,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-06-16 22:37:04","modified":"2007-06-16 22:37:04","fileurl":""}]}