Our story, Family Matters, centers around the shell of a fractured family. One child trying to fit in, one unsure of where they belong, and one parent trying to navigate it all. We paddle the stormy waters of family on Episode 100 of SMIRK, what family means, and why family matters. As well as bring Season 4 to a close.
Welcome to Smirk. A podcast that covers society and culture through a storytelling lens. Part creative writing, part discussion, and always interesting. Each week our hosts brings a story to the show, a story they wrote themselves, which is immediately followed by discussion on the author’s moral or theme. These stories can cover any topic the host wants to discuss, it can be lighthearted or more serious. No one but the author knows if these tales are truth or fiction, and part of the fun is guessing while you’re listening before the reality is made clear.
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Want to read Aaron’s story “Family Matters” in full? Think you can identify the moral or theme for this episode? Read it below, and then take a listen to the podcast.
Family Matters
Todd was lost.
For several years now, Todd had lived his life under the assumption that the child birthed by Uma, his ex, during his high school years wasn’t his. Court dates and DNA tests that went nowhere almost a decade ago now haunted him. He thought he had done everything he could to find the truth, he was certain of it, but now self-doubt would forever haunt him. Nothing in the past though could change the facts of the present: he now knew he had a 9 year-old daughter named Rachel.
What was even more of a struggle was this poor girl only recently learned of the possibility that her father was anyone other than John, the man who had – to that point – raised her. She spent her life believing her two sisters and her shared a father, only to now learn that her actual father was someone completely different.
“What could possibly be going through their minds”, Todd thought.
To further murky the family waters, Todd also had a 7 year-old son, Eric. Todd had raised Eric mostly on his own since he split with his mother, a completely different woman, many years earlier. And Todd had never brought up the possibility of a sister because, well, Todd didn’t think there was a possibility that Rachel was his sister. Talk about a complicated situation.
Anyone that knows Todd knows he would never abandon his child, but Rachel doesn’t know Todd. And Eric doesn’t know Rachel, and Rachel doesn’t know Eric. Essentially, Todd, Rachel, and Eric’s lives have all effectively become a bonkers episode of the Maury Povich show.
Anxiety grew in everyone. Todd knew Eric well, and could sense the internal struggle of a child learning they would now have to share the attention of their parent with another child, and though he didn’t know Rachel very well, he could also sense how completely overwhelmed she was at the idea that she now had to listen to and spend time with this stranger who she saw only in the light that had been painted for her by her mother.
Lastly, Todd knew he only had one shot to get this family right. His own anger or frustration over the circumstances of this situation mattered not at all. Make the wrong move with either child, and they could be lost forever. It was neither of their faults, this situation that had arisen, yet they both had struggles of their own that deserved attention.
As the car pulled up, Todd stared out the window, still debating how to handle the complexity of this situation. Should he allow Rachel to run wild and free, essentially spoiling her in order to win her love and respect? Should he do the same to Eric so that he doesn’t feel as though he matters any less? A million options were racing through Todd’s mind when the rear car door opened and Rachel stepped out of the car.
Todd looked at Rachel and she was in near tears, it was obvious she did not want to be here. Todd began to tear up as well, he knew this child was in pain and it was he and her mother’s mistakes that led her to this point.
Todd looked down to see little Eric right under the window, stepping on tiptoes to get a look at his new big sister. Eric looked back at Todd and for once Todd was completely oblivious to what Eric was thinking. His face was a combination of fear and excitement, bouncing easily between the two.
Three people, each one in various states of emotional despair. How many families could survive conditions like this? And could they ever come together as an actual family?
Todd opened the door and welcomed Rachel in. He took her to her room, a room she would now have to share with Eric. As Rachel put her stuff on her new bed in this stranger’s home, she turned to Eric and simply said, “hey”.
Minor words for such a major life change.
“Hi”, Eric replied.
Todd noticed something intriguing at this moment, both Rachel and Eric were being cordial. There was no anger or hostility, just the air of the unknown underneath pleasantries.
Todd decided to get the ball rolling, “So, Rachel. What do you like to do for fun?”
“Mostly video games, I guess”, Rachel replied.
“Have you ever played Star Wars on Playstation?” Todd asked.
“Of course”, she replied again.
“Can you teach me how to play?” Eric chimed in.
“Sure”, Rachel said begrudgingly.
What seemed like a minor compromise morphed into laughter, excitement, and smiles all around later that night. Rachel and Eric played video games for hours, with Todd even jumping in a few times as they went. Both children seemed to toss their personal struggles and beliefs aside for this time, and before long Todd had an epiphany.
Leading up to this moment, all he could focus on was how difficult this would be for everyone involved, how impossible this situation would be to navigate. What he never stopped to realize is how much he was overthinking it. Yes, everyone was hurting in their own way, it’s true. No one was immune. Yet they were all here, they were all trying. They WANTED to try.
What would get them all through this wasn’t spoiling anyone or treating one child better than another, or one child different than the other. What would get them through this was being genuine with each other, getting to know each other, and eventually, loving each other.
Everything takes time. And Todd knew in this moment that though it might take more time than others, his family was going to be just fine.