Teens feel restricted
 Setting priorities
 Enough to make you go insane
 Going overboard

 Thanks for helping us stand
 Resisting pressures of popularity
 Double standard
 Long-distance

 The 1999 issue home page

     Father's Day for some is a day of fun and relaxation with the man you call Dad. But today all I can do is sit in a beat up, moldy old dorm room and listen as my roommate annoyingly crumbles up piece after piece of paper. (Why is he doing that?) All I can think about is how I want to be with my Dad. My roommate picks up the phone and calls home. It appears as if he is dialing those numerous digits to wish his own father a happy Father's Day. He does. But then they continue to talk and eventually they get in a shouting match over the phone. This shouting match ends with my roommate saying these words "I wish I had a new father!" Obviously he has problems.
     These very words hurt even me because I wish I could see my father so badly. His father probably has done a good job but he may have made a few mistakes. For some reason I am not going to call my father today. I don't know why. I keep coming up with excuses in my head like "It's too late" or "He is   probably not even home."
     Why am I doing this? I have no clue.
     Don't get me wrong I love my Dad. It's just there is something inside preventing me. Maybe it is because tons of people in America today have no father. This hurts me inside knowing that I have a great father and they don't even have one.
     Just today I was playing some useless game. It was a weird game in which you get one of the RA's to spin you around blindfolded and then when you are dizzy you have to throw a ball into a hoola hoop five times. I mean this has to be the most pointless game I have ever played in my life because there is nothing to win. You don't even have the satisfaction of victory afterward because it is a stupid game. Anyway back to the point. I noticed that the nametag on the female RA, who spun me around, said Maria Montoya.
     This instantly triggered a nerve in my brain. If you have ever seen the movie The Princess Bride you'll know what I am talking about so bear with me. There is a character named Diego Montoya in the movie. His purpose in life is to avenge his father's death. He rehearsed this famous line for when he finally met his father's murderer: "I am Diego Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
     I asked the RA, Maria, if she had ever said that line when she was little. And she said slowly and sadly after sighing, "I have no father."
     My heart sank. I feel for these people who do not have the great privilege that I have had for my entire life and for hopefully a long time…a father. But now that I look back on it and I probably should have called my Dad simply for this reason. If, God forbid, he isn't on this earth much longer I can look back on his life and say I spent every moment of my life wanting to be with this great man who I called Dad. Go figure.