Nathan Exposed » Beer and Bruises

When I was a little boy, my best friend was a girl that I’ll refer to as Cathy.

I had a dream recently about Cathy. I sure do miss her right now. We were such good friends. When I think of her, I can remember laughter and sunshine at the pool, chocolate chip cookies, and games of Monopoly. Childhood is such a precious thing, and we can never get it back.

But on a darker note, Cathy’s father was an alcoholic. He used to get drunk and beat his wife. Sometimes he would try to kill her. I remember one time when he tried to strangle her with a cord, and Cathy begged him to stop.

One evening, when I was 5-years-old, Cathy’s father decided to go on a drunk rampage. He came downstairs where we were playing and started yelling at me. He said “I’ll throw you out the goddamned window!!!”

I have never forgotten his angry voice. I was so scared. Again, I was 5-years-old.

Cathy’s parents eventually got divorced. Aside from all the abuse, he also cheated on his wife all the time. He even got another woman pregnant.

I have a lot of happy memories from my days with Cathy. But her father is a dark reminder of a less-than-perfect household. I learned about the real world very early in my life. I don’t believe children should have to deal with these things.

Mon, Jan 16, 2006 @ 11:44 pm | Filed in Life, Confessions | Permalink

15 Comments

You’re absolutely right - children should NEVER have to go through that kind of thing.

I LOVE the new look, Nathan! Totally HOT!

Posted by Donnie on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 1:14 am

Just wanted to say the new look totally ROCKS! You really ARE exposed now!

Posted by Scotty on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 3:38 am

Hi buddy. yeah - kids should never have to go through all that. BTW - I LOVE the new look. Just perfect. Keep up the great site. love, CTG

Posted by CTG on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 3:57 am

If Cathy’s father is still alive, she should get herself a good lawyer, she could probably have him punished. I think that those who create that sort of psychological and emotional turmoil for anyone else, family or not, they should go down. Even showing some remorse and wanting to change their ways is a start but I believe dark people like that should go to a dark dark place - prison.

Alot of people would say he should be killed. But an eye for an eye and we’d all be dead. (ie. we’d have no one left.)

On a more positive note, I love the new layout Nathan!!! Is that your photo up the top? Very cute.

Posted by Kerri on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 5:14 am

It breaks my heart to hear about little kids being subject to mental and physical violence.

On a brighter note, love the new look. It’s AWESOME.

Posted by Sunshine on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 6:48 am

Wonderful new look Nathan. I finally get to see the entire you. This post is yet another similarity between us. My Uncle Jack was an alcholic. My cousin would tell us horror stories about how he treated him and my aunt.

Posted by Scott on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 8:05 am

I, too, love the new look, although I’m new enough that the old look was new to me too. But yeah, I love the new header.

And welcome to the dark side this week — you weren’t kidding. And I thought my post about my folks was rough. Sheesh.

Posted by Six on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 9:28 am

hey nathan, the new look is sweet! I like the old underpants thing too though, I hope you find a way to stick it somewhere on your blog! I like when there can be some sense of continuity I guess (plus it was cute.. nathan exposed.. pants down.. haha. u know)

your post: reminds me of some of the loud fights in my childhood. They were not often, but when I heard them.. they scared me to death. Parents should NEVER fight in front of their children. A lesson I definitely learned.

Posted by jjd on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 11:04 am

New look: Love it

It’s always heartbreaking, but oddly comforting, to know that others have had similar experiences as I had as a little girl. I know my experiences have made me the better person I am now, but still, everyone deserves a childhood in some form or another.

Posted by sara on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 11:32 am

LOVE the new look. It gave me goosebumps. I agree with jjd that you should include the old shot of your pants and feet. It’s great to see you exposing more and more…!

Posted by Dan on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 11:56 am

and again … you are too kind …

Posted by Six on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 1:47 pm

haha, I just noticed the new girl heading to the right. and yes, I would shave my legs if you were visiting me

Posted by sara on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 1:56 pm

I love the new look. It’s fabulous.

Posted by Defining David on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 3:47 pm

This story reminds me of the friends that I had when I was younger that would apologize for the behavior of their parents.

The new layout is stunning!

Posted by adam on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 @ 4:13 pm

Nathan…thank you for the bold honesty you share here. It cannot be easy. I know from experience. I was a victim of molestation as a child and I still find it difficult to talk about (which is probably why I don’t)

No child deserves the pain, heartache and fear that comes from living with someone like Cathy’s father. And again, I know that it can take years - sometimes a lifetime - to “deal” with the scars.

I applaud your openness and your braverism in sharing these innermost feelings with us. And I echo everyone else who said how great the site looks - I completely agree. Very, very nice.

Posted by Ziggy on Sat, Jan 21, 2006 @ 10:08 am