Change As a child, I spent a lot of time with my father. He was always playful, adventurous, and very funny. I remember at the end of most weekdays, after my mother left to attend school at night, my dad would create some sort of entertainment for the evening. Most days, my sister, my dad and I would watch the star wars trilogy while we ate rainbow sherbert and chocolate chip ice cream. Other times we would play board games, hide and seek, or have tickle fights in our living room. My dad always cracked jokes, and would constantly make us laugh. He had a lot of energy and was full of life when I was a kid. However, when I turned nine years old, things took a turn for the worse. My dad became very sick with a severe illness. He was always tired, and looked terribly exhausted. He was in the hospital for several days at a time, and I was unable to visit him until he eventually came home. Even then, he continued to receive treatment, and I only spoke to him a few hours out of the day, because he was so tired and would be asleep when I came home from school. I was heartbroken for most of the time just wishing my dad could get better, so things could go back to the way they used to be. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. After a couple of months of intensive treatment, my dad got better. Eventually, he became almost as good as new. He was still slightly weak from the intensive care, but none the less he was cured. But he was not the same Dad I once knew. He had less patience, and less than half the energy he used to have. He hardly spent time with my sister and I, and would often be alone in his room, or in the garage working on his computer. I did not like the person my dad had become. He was almost depressing to be around. I would often become upset with him, and wondered why he couldn’t just be happy and joyful like he used to be. I no longer looked up to my dad, and tried to avoid conversation between us. As time passed, my dad became tired again and looked unhealthy. We soon discovered that he had the same illness for a second time. I was furious and hopeless. I worried that my dad would not make it through this time with his new negative attitude. Soon I came to regret my attitude towards him. I should have tried to spend more time with him when he was healthy. Finally I came to the conclusion that I needed to apologize and communicate with my father. We had a long talk about what had happened in the past. Our conversation helped more than I could have ever hoped for. I was so incredibly happy and hopeful after that day. Now that I see my father’s point of view, I can understand more about why he is the way he is. I still respect him of course love him with all my heart. Even though he may not be the dad he used to be, I plan to get to know him again, bond with him, and help him in any way I can.