You don't need to go somewhere to go away

When I was younger I feared the monsters that lurked in my wardrobe, every night I would cover myself in my sheets and keep my eyes shut until I dropped into an uneasy sleep. Uncertain of what I was afraid of, my seven year old intuition told me that it was something dark and menacing. When this fear would escalate my father would come into my bedroom and comfort me, reassuring me that I was safe. It was this reassurance I now find myself seeking.
As time has passed, I have grown slightly taller and ostensibly more mature and come to the inescapable conclusion that the monsters in my bedroom were a collection of incarnations established based solely in the mind of an imaginative young child manipulating the shadows of the night.
Lately I have been looking through the Polaroids of my upbringing. Photos of a thousand memories. I find it rather astounding how a mere photograph can take you back to your childhood, the other day I stumbled across a photo of my father and I on a typical Sunday. I use to sit on my fathers lap while he would read the Chinese newspapers. Although my father was not bilingual and could not understand an ounce of Chinese, I use to enjoy hearing him make up fictitious stories to match the photos in the paper.
When I think of my dad I think of the house he built with his own hands. Although the house has it’s imperfections it is my dads pride that makes it flawless. Each Saturday I use to tag along to work with my father while he would work various plumbing jobs trying to make money to provide for my family. Never would he allow us to go hungry or in need of anything. As I have grown older, a separation has taken place and we now find our selves having minimal conversations and awkward silences fill the four walls of our living room replacing the once endless laughs. Although my dad has not physically gone away, the man I have grown up to envision my friend has slowly become a somewhat stranger through my eyes and I miss nothing more than the bond we once shared.