yick wrote:Genuine question, not digging you out or anything - but do you think your dad regretted having you? Do you think you were a blot on his landscape and if he hadn't have had you, he would have had an easier or better life?
What does your father think about your continued semi-abandonment of your own son, does he get angry? Is he upset he doesn't get to see his only grandchild? Does he wish you stepped up more.
From what I know about you Winston, you have a great father, a real, decent, good, loving father who is on hand with good advice and he truly cares and loves you. I have read his emails to you and I think (and I am sure most people on here who have read the discourse between you and your dad) that you have got a father to be proud of, but your son doesn't have a father to be proud of, someone who won't be there for him.
You have had something important in your life, something your son will never have. So my question is - how does your father feel about all that?
I don't know if my parents regretted having me. Maybe they wish I was more of a conformist so I would be more stable and normal with a career and settled down with a family. But I do not sense regret in general. They know now that I am unique and have a unique website that has helped many people. You definitely can't say that about a typical corporate drone who is not unique at all.
My parents didn't sacrifice anything by having me. They are traditional people with traditional values from the 1950's. They are similar to the parents you see on the TV series "Leave it to Beaver" from the 1950's. So it's not like I prevented them from doing anything. They came to America to settle and have a better life, like many Asians did in the 1970's. I went along too of course. So no, I wasn't any kind of obstacle to that. I don't know what you're getting at. It's not like my mom was a budding starlet in show biz and gave up her career for me. lol
No my parents don't mind what I do. They want me to settle down, yeah, but since they don't see my son much, they don't have much emotional attachment to him either. My parents don't like the Philippines and are too uncomfortable there. And it's been difficult getting Angelo a passport because Dianne has discrepancies in her birth records, which has only been recently fixed with the help of attorneys.
Yes you can tell from my dad's emails that he is wise and understanding and caring. But I can write emails like that to my son too. And in fact, I write letters like that to many guys here in the forum as well. I too have a lot of wisdom and insight and good advice, which you can see in my posts and in my Ask Winston thread.
Yes I'm not a traditional father type but I see my son sometimes. My priority now is finding love and a soulmate and wife. You can't do everything at once.
If ever my son asks why I wasn't there for him, or why I am an unstable guy, I will simply reply:
"Well why don't you ask God why he f***ed up my life in 1981 when he moved me out of Palo Alto, CA from the school I loved and was HAPPY in? I was in a Romper Room/Disney type of wholesome environment there. I had friends and caring/loving teachers. Then I had to go to San Jose, CA, which wasn't so bad. But when we moved to Fremont, CA in 1982, all hell broke loose. I never had a good childhood again. All I received was persecution, bullying, hate, ridicule, ostracization, and my self esteem was shot to hell. Everyday was nothing but depression for me, as well as loneliness.
Because of that, I never got to enjoy my school years and childhood. I never got to go to school dances. I never got dates in high school. I never got a date to go to the high school prom with. I never got to smoke weed or drink beer. I never got to have my first teenage kiss with a girl to remember for life. Etc. I was deprived of all these stereotypical things that others had.
If I had all these things and a normal childhood and positive school environment, then I might have turned out normal. I may have married my high school sweetheart, went to college, started a job, and raised a family, and been normal, never having to deal with loneliness or isolation. And HappierAbroad.com wouldn't exist.
So why did God allow my parents to move me from heaven to hell like that back in 1980 and allow my childhood to be RUINED for good?! WHY???!!! You see, God or the universe seems to have a pattern of wrecking everything when things are great. It's a pattern I've seen since 1980. I don't know why. Maybe he's a masochist? Or maybe that's just the way the universe works, because we are meant to struggle in life.
But it's not just my life that God or the universe does this. You see this in American history too. For example, in 1962, things were great in America. People were happy, prosperous, and wholesome. They loved their government and country and trusted it. And Americans still had their innocence (which is portrayed in the film "American Graffiti" by George Lucas). But in 1963 with the assassination of President Kennedy and the onset of the Vietnam War that lasted for 10 bloody years and tore the nation apart, things were never the same in America again. Everything went south. The shit hit the fan. Americans were never innocent again and never trusted their government again. America has been ruined and f***ed since then. So you see, even history records instances where things were all great, and then the universe or God allowed it all to be wrecked to hell, for seemingly no reason, and unnecessarily too, which is the sad part. I don't get why good things always have to be wrecked unnecessarily. Why don't you ask God that question?
Anyway, if God is all powerful and can do anything, then why don't you ask him to go back to 1981 and fix my life by not allowing me to have to move from heaven to hell, so that I will have had a normal childhood? If he can do that, and right what went wrong, then I'll consider being a good stable normal father. After all, if God allowed me to be f***ed up, then how can you expect me to be normal and stable? I never asked to be f***ed up. It just happened, without my control or decision. We are all victims. Not just me, but you too. If you wanna know why, ask God. Not me. I don't have the answer to this."
Note: For visual proof of what I say above, see this photo of me in 1979 along with my kindergarten class. As you can see, I looked happy and normal, and was in a positive, warm, wholesome environment. Same with the 1980 class photo of first grade. In both photos, I am sitting in the bottom right corner.
Also, here is a letter to me in 1979 from one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Betty Newton. Notice how warm and caring her words were. As you can see, a teacher like this is obvious proof of a warm, caring, wholesome, positive environment that I spoke of.
So you see, had I remained in that kind of environment throughout my grade school years, junior high years, and high school years, I might have turned out normal, and be settled down with a happy wholesome family now, instead of f***ed up like this. If so, this website and forum wouldn't exist.