Reflection again...

Reflection
The essay I had difficulty with, but felt satisfied the most with once finished was Driving with Dad. This essay was not easy for me to write because I admitted some things that I found hard to say or write. My relationship with my father is difficult and it is apparent in my story that we do not always see things the same way, but my opinions as well as sly remarks are kept to myself. The writing process for this story was as important as the trial period of the piece. After writing a few paragraphs I would read this story to my mother, for an insider’s opinion and to ensure that I am not being too dramatic with my description of my father. The other person I would read this to is my boyfriend. He has not been around my father at all, but he helped me with the amusing aspect to the story to keep my focus as important as my reader’s attention. With an insider and an outsider’s opinion I feel that I maintained a decent balance of pure truth and amusement throughout the story. Some of the decisions I had to make while writing this paper were whether to leave out certain opinions about my father in case he were ever to read this piece or to put them in because they are just as much a part of the story as the actual events taking place. I decided that my opinion is as important and included my comments where I felt necessary in the story.
Another problem I had after I finished the story was deciding what enough information was and what was too much. I omitted some paragraphs because I tried to explain what my point is without realizing that it is understood through the story itself and doesn’t need an explanation. After revising, the story was shortened in some areas and longer in others. I added the paragraph about my great grandmother’s funeral at the end of my revising to try and bring a point to my story. I wanted it to become clear that despite the situation family is there for you. As I wrote my opinions and comments throughout the story I realized that my father’s intentions throughout the entire ordeal were purely to help me and my intention was to make him out as the bad guy. At the time of the driving events I did not think that anything that my father was trying to teach me was for my own good. I never appreciated the fact that he pushed me so hard because if he hadn’t I would have given up on learning to drive a manual transmission. I began writing the story with the purpose of exposing my father as the harsh and demanding person I have always seen him as, but came out of the story with a realization that he is not trying to control all aspects of life, mostly he is just pushing me to do the best I can. I also never appreciated the time he took out of his day to ensure that I was practicing driving and to make sure I was doing it right. I also felt it was important to include details about my family life as subtly as I can so that I wouldn’t divert the point of the story too far, but I could give some insight that I am not the only one that has difficulty with my father. My brother and I are very close in age and we have gone through similar situations with our parents learning to cope with their children growing up. I feel that this story also takes a position on what it is like growing up with my parents. Our father does not do much of the moral support, but he will always back us up. My sarcastic tone throughout the story helps bring out the real me. I am very dry and my attitude toward everything is very similar to my attitude throughout the story. I am also not very ambitious, especially with learning to do new things. My story helped me realize that I was being immature with the way I handled learning to drive with my father, and I will never tell him that I have come to that realization. Much of this story has to do with my difficulty in admitting that I may have acted wrong, or I could have handled things differently. That is what makes this story hard for me to read to anyone that knows my family, myself included.
The whole story bases around the idea that I am moving from the backseat, being driven where ever it is that my parents are taking me, to learning to drive and getting myself there. The point is that I have taken on a new position as the driver of my own life and no one can steer me anywhere I don’t want to go. I changed through this event because it not only helped me acquire a new skill, but gave me insight on what it is to take on something challenging. The satisfaction of learning and mastering something is amazing and it is important that that stays relevant in my story as a major focus. I enjoyed what I learned so much that I went on to buy a new car that was stick which is actually humorous to me now that I have written my story. And, my father isn’t such a bad guy after all.