Sunday, January 20, 2013

Sad Puppy Dog Eyes And Divorce

When I was in third grade we had this writing assignment, to write about an inanimate object and tell how we were like it.

This is what I imagined as a child only gloomier
now you can buy it on Etsy


I wrote about a velvet painting of a puppy dog with the saddest eyes. This painting I wrote hung inside of a little Italian restaurant that my family frequented. That this resturant was where we celebrated birthdays, special occasions and had Sunday dinners. It was my favorite place. I wrote that because I loved it so much, my parents decided to take me there to break the news. The awful news. The news that they were getting divorced.

The inanimate object that I was like was that painting. That puppy. I was like him because I knew the same sadness and loneliness that the puppy knew. When I saw those sad puppy dog eyes, I knew that painting and I were cut from the same cloth. Painted by the same artist.

I don't remember if I wrote more or if that's where my story ended. It probably ended there. After all I was only in third grade. I didn't give this story another thought. It got a gold star. My stories always got a gold star.

A couple of months later we had parent teacher conferences. My teacher was very surprised that they (my parents) came together (she was likely just expecting a mom). She showed them my paper and told them she was worried about me, but that I was a strong resilient girl. My school work hadn't suffered.

My parents needed her to explain what she was saying a few times. Possibly because English was their newly acquired second language. Eventually they understood what she was saying.

My parents laughed. They explained to her that I had a vivid imagination and that I loved to tell stories. Interesting stories, whether real or imagined. They were not divorced, not getting divorced and we NEVER went out for Italian food. Chinese yes, Italian never.

My parents were amused, the teacher was not.

She felt duped I guess, and suggested to my parents that I might need to see a therapist. My parents disagreed, and had a nice chuckle about my creative writing.








9 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Sorry, not on purpose. I had mentioned once there was an elementary school teacher that thought I needed to see a psychologist once. This was why, my parents still laugh about it so....

      Delete
  2. LOL! You tricked me too; I was totally buying into the puppy/divorce comparison...great story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanx, I thought it made for a good comparison too ;) I'm not sure of I realized it had to be a *true* story

      Delete
  3. *that* is hilarious. and I full expect the same thing to happen to me one night - my kid has a VERY vivid imagination and tells stories all the time. the giveaway is usually that an animal is the main character.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was lucky my parents thought so too and they swear I was ALWAYS like that. If it happens to you I bet you'll have a good chuckle too ;p

      Delete
  4. Ok, you had me going too. Such a little fibber!!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ok, you had me going too. Such a little fibber!!!! :)

    ReplyDelete