The Bitter-Sweet Search for a Father

Pete Mitchell grew up, without his father, in a small countryside Caribbean community. One of his wishes was to find his dad one day. At first, he thought his father’s absence was temporary. He felt that way since it was common for the residents to leave to work for better wages and then return. The dwellers of the West Indian residential district had the means and skills to grow many crops. Among the farmers' produce were yams, corn, peas, Irish and sweet potatoes, breadfruit, oranges, and pimento. The problem they encountered was finding enough opportunities to sell their goods. The limited ways the crop growers had to earn income from what they harvest forced some of them to find markets in other places, on the island, for their products. Some people even travel to foreign countries to work for better wages. Pete grew up feeling his father is one of those who went away to earn a living and would return one day. However, as he got older, he realized that his father was not coming back. No one, including his side of the family, knew where his father was. One thing that was common knowledge among the residents was the disappearance of his father from the district. When the five-foot-seven inches adolescent reached college age, he migrated to the United States. He joined his mother, who had left the Caribbean countryside village to study in Europe before settling in the States. I’m going to start searching for my father and won’t stop looking for him until I find him, he thought as he get ready for another day of university classes. No matter how hard he tried, Pete could not help thinking about growing up without a father. Throughout his years in college, Pete used every opportunity he had to address the issue of fatherlessness. “Your writing assignment is due this coming Friday,” one of his professors told his class one semester in his sophomore year. Mine is about absentee fathers, he thought while leaving the classroom. “An A-plus!” He said with a grin when the instructor returned his essay the following week. Writing is easy when it’s done from personal experienced, Pete thought. He continues reading the professor’s notes in the upper right-hand corner of the page. “This is a riveting story.” He headed to New York City after he graduated. A year later, Pete met Faith, the woman he married eighteen months after meeting her. “I am looking forward to seeing our kids grow up,” he said while reminiscing with Faith in the living room one evening. “That should be the expectation of most fathers,” Faith said, “and mothers too.” A smile Pete had on his face started to disappear after his wife spoke. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Is it something I said?” “No! No! No!” He replied in a hurry. “I’m thinking about how to find my father.” Faith slipped her arm around his shoulders while they sat on the couch. “Sorry to hear that you didn’t get to meet your father.” “That is why I made myself a pledge about two years ago,” Pete said. “What’s that?” “That I will not stop searching for my father until I find him.” After he started searching for his father, Pete encountered many setbacks and obstacles. When disagreements between him and his siblings escalate, the problem had to get resolve in court. Therefore, the story in this book is about Pete’s bitter-sweet search for his father.