Narrative essay

My wonderful father

     

     My name is Emily and I go to a school that I am not allowed to say the name, but let's just say it's a school where everyone gets very ecstatic about football games. I am a dreamer, someone who loves to picture perfect moments in her head and make them come to life. A dancer, photographer, film maker and someone who has a passion for anything that involves making music. I decided to interview my father Ivan Martinez, because I love him to death. Also, he is a role model for me. The way he handles things and interacts with people inspires me to be just like him as I grow up and make big decisions.
   
   Ivan Martinez was born on January 12th, 19776 in Guererro, Mexico. He is an only child, but grew up with a cousin that he treated like a younger sister. His life has not been all that cookie cutter easy. At the age of six he had to go to school. He came home and help his grandfather chop down banana trees to sell. His grandmother, sold food at the corner of "El Mercado." El Mercado is a little market in Mexico where everyone goes and buys organic local foods. It is kind of like Fred Meyer, but a more poor being you could say. He would go into the kitchen and help her cut out all the vegetables and fruits and everything she was going to sell the next day. Something that he always hated doing is killing pigs for the pork meat she sold at the market. He stated" Odio matar a los puercos, pero lo tenia que hacer para poder recivir dinero para poder comer el proximo dia." In English this is translated to, " I hate killing pigs but I had to do it in order to get money to be able to have a meal to eat the next day." This was Ivans routine everyday until the age of eighteen when he finally immigrated to the United states.
   
    Family to Ivan is really important. Although he is not my biological father, I have so much respect for him as a person and as a father. His family when he was young was not all that supportive of anything he wanted to do. His grandfather was one of the biggest influences he had in his young life. Until one day, he went into his grandfather's bedroom and he saw that his grandpa was not awake yet. He tried moving him but he was not breathing. Ivan said that was on of the worst days of his life. Since Ivans father was never around, not even as a young kid, his grandfather was his father figure. So when his grandfather died he felt like he lost his dad and a big part of himself.
   
    As a teenager he was what we call today a "player." In one of millions of stories he tells us he told us one story that I still remember till this day.  He said that he loved women in every way. So he thought to himself," why should just one women be loved by me? Why can't I love multiple women at the same time?" So he decided to get a couple girlfriends. By a couple I mean, about seven or eight. He was a very bad player, so he got caught in a matter of three months. He said that one day he was in the commons of where he lived hanging out with one of his many girlfriends that came to visit him from a different city. All of a sudden, he is kissing the girl and his other girlfriend that lived in the same city passed by. She started screaming and throwing a fit in front of everyone, In a matter of days all the girls in the city knew my Ivan was "playing" them so they all decided to have one of those "girl meetings." They all invited him to a place to hangout and when he got there all eight women were standing there waiting for him. They called him out and yelled at him then beat him up.  He luckily got away, but as he was running away they started to throw rocks, shoes, and pretty much anything they could find at him. This story was one of the most memorable stories he has told me yet.
 
  Yes, half of the things he says have mostly humor in it. He is a very joyful happy person, well at least that is what he shows everyone else. Something I learned about him is how he can take a totally unhappy situation and try and make something positive come out of it after a couple of days. Something I have always known about Ivan is his passion for music. Music helped him survive throughout many unhappy moments and situations he encountered. He has been playing the drums since he was five years old. Yes, he is a professional drummer and not just that, he can also play the electric and acoustic guitar and he can play the bass. He loves to compose music on his spare time when he is not dealing with our problems and screams. When he needs to calm down, I have learned that sometimes he locks himself in his room and the next thing I heard is a beautiful melody coming out oh his room. After a couple hours ( after all his stress is gone) he comes out with a stunning smile that is more radiant than the sun. His passion for music has inspired me to continue with my passion for the arts of music.

  It did not take me that long to get personal information out of him, because me and Ivan have a very close father-daughter relationship. I learned many things about his life, family, friends and of course his "player" ways. He has overcome a lot of obstacles and people that have always put him down. Still to this day, he is still standing and working hard to give my brothers, sisters, and myself a better quality life. I admire him for the way he lives life and the way he handles problems and situations that normal people would probably give up or wouldn't want to continue in life.