My Daddy is Sick

By Stanley Singleton

Her beloved father's sudden illness robs four years old Li of her innocence and happiness. See how she navigates through the tragedy with sadness, bravery and humor 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stanley Singleton
• Release date: May 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201002398

Stanley Singleton

Why I choose writing? Writing choose me and the person directly responsible for this is my Grandma. She was a housekeeper and every evening she would bring home the previous day's newspaper for me. The people she worked for would read it and save it for her to bring home to me. It didn't matter that I was always reading a day old paper. I read every word on every single page. A few years later after I had graduated from college, my goal was to write for that newspaper. She was so proud when I got an interview for a reporter's job.  Back then there were not any black reporters at that paper. This is one of those it was just like yesterday moments. I can easily remember sitting in an office writing an article as part of the interview process. A group of young white reporters came to the door smiling and one of them said    "look at that reporter writing a story."  I was so jacked up to hear that and looking forward to working with them.  When they were walking away that same person said loud enough for me to hear    "look at that reporter never getting a story published."  All of the group burst out laughing. That punch in the gut made me want to run out of there and go back home. I finished writing the article, not really paying attention to what I was writing because at that point all I could think about was how they had laughed at me for trying to do what they did without even knowing if I had the talent.  I lied to my grandma and told her that everything went well. But I was hurting and didn't want her to hurt with me, but a determination was being born I didn't fully grasp it at the time, but everytime I read their newspaper or drove by that building it grew and now here we are.

Book preview

Chapter

Ahouse with little kids is supposed to be a happy house, the kind of house that Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy like to come to even if it’s a naughty little boy living in the house, which I am definitely not. You're going to meet a four years old little girl who is very cute, everybody in my family says so, especially my mommy and daddy and I am only naughty a little bit but recently very sad, much sadder than any kid should ever be😧.

OUR HOUSE USED TO BE THE HAPPIEST HOUSE in the world, full of goodies, laughing and playing, mostly from me and my daddy. Mommy liked to smile beautiful happy smiles, but me and my daddy, we liked to laugh out loud. When Mommy would shhhh us, my daddy would tickle her until she laughed so much that she cried and then had to run to the bathroom😅. Those were the funnest times.

BUT NOW THE LAUGHING has disappeared and CRYING not the good crying😭, has come into our house, from me and my mommy BECAUSE MY DADDY IS VERY SICK, so sick that grownups whisper about him when they see me😳. My daddy is so sick that some of my friends’ mommies have become mean old, ugly witches because they don't want their children to play with me ANYMORE.

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO be just a four years old cute little girl now because I don’t feel happy and Mommy says you can’t be cute if you are not happy😢. My daddy is so sick that I cry every night and nothing used to make me cry, not even the meanest, stupidest boys in the whole world used to make me cry, but now my daddy is sick and I cry a lot, much more than little girls should😓.

Little girls shouldn't be crying. We should be playing with our dolls, having tea parties AND GETTING PIGGY BACK RIDES FROM OUR DADDIES.

I heard somebody say the name of what made my daddy so sick, but it’s too long and scary for me to remember, and it’s not the kind of sick that a pretty bandage, a pill or even some of Grandma Ehuang’s, (Mommy's mom) traditional Chinese medicines can make all better and her medicines can fix anything🙌.

Chapter

We live in a sad house now, the saddest house in the whole world. Everything in our house looks so sad especially Mommy.

My mommy IS the most beautiful woman in the world. I don't care if mean old, ugly, silly Dennis made everybody laugh when he said my mommy looks like a Chinese pencil 😬. He is jealous because his mommy is something called a crackhead. Although I have seen her many times and always stare very closely, I have never seen any cracks in Dennis's mother's head. Maybe her hair is covering the cracks up. My mommy is beautiful and my daddy thinks so to and he is more important than crusty eyes Dennis. He is more important than the president, so that means my mommy is beautiful.

BUT NOW MOMMY IS THE most unhappy woman in the world because my daddy is sick, and I am the most unhappy little girl in the world and this is my story. The same story that every little kid with a sick daddy would tell, only mine is much more sadder 😥.

Chapter

My life went from the bestis to the worstis ever. My daddy and me made the words bestis and worstis up. It’s our thing😊. We like to make words up. But some of the words he makes up when I am not supposed to be listening, four years old aren't allowed to repeat😱. They are the slip out words that grownups use when they are angry and even sometimes when they are happy😂. One time I repeated a slip out word and my daddy was very angry😠, but not at me, at himself. Mommy was very angry at him too. It was confusing because I was the one who said the slip out word.

There is NEVER EVER a good time to be without my daddy, ESPECIALLY now because it’s the Christmas season, our absolutely, positively favorite holiday.

THESE DAYS INSTEAD of being sad and afraid I SHOULD be practicing my spelling for the most important thing anybody will ever have to write, a Santa list, but now my Santa list is so sad with long tear stains all over it. I hope that it doesn’t make Santa sad too😢. So I sent Santa a 'before Santa list' letter to tell him about my problem and to let him know that because my daddy is sick, we will send my list later.

My Santa letter

Dare Santa,

This is not my Santa list becaus my daddy is too sick to halp me rite the words carrectaly. I hope that you, Ms. Santa, the elvises and your raindares are doing well. I hope that you have bin getting a lot of rest for your trip. I have bin a good little girl most of the time and I am sorrie for putting a ice cube down Shannon Omstead shirt but she say a bad word to me first. I had bin practicing my spelling wit my daddy but now he is sick and me and Mommy are sad. We will rite you soon as he come home, don't do anything till you here from me and my daddy becaus I still want a lot of stuf. Santa don’t be scared of catching the virus at my house becaus my mommy does good at cleaning and I will tell her to spray her magic spray in the chimney just for you, and to put napkins on the cookies and milk.

Your very not naughty friend

Li

I told Mommy to send the letter to Santa so that he would know that my list is going to be late this year because we are waiting for my daddy to get better, but it made her cry. These days