Finishing My SHot

Sometimes life seems unfair. Depends who you speak to, I guess. Some people can just breeze through life and have everything handed to them. Others, like me, have to work for it. I’m Mark Taylor, and I’m going to tell you a little bit about me. I have been hit with some problems. But I have always persevered. I have always finished my shot. Some people are hit with tragedy after tragedy. Yet they never stop, they may slow down but never stop. You almost cannot avoid tragedies. They’re somewhat a part of life. They certainly have played a big part in mine. Though painful and mind boggling at the time, they have made me into the man I am today. Wrestling was one thing I always had. Looking back now, during those times my life was wrestling. It all started back in 1985 here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Life is good. As a sophomore on the wrestling team I am eleven and 3, so everything is going great. Heck, I do not see anything going wrong. Today was a rough wrestling practice. I’m as stiff as a board. When your goal is to ultimately be on top of the podium, I guess hard work is what comes first. Mom has dinner set out for me, well like always. My favorite, chicken parmesan, it was covered in just the right amount of sauce with a large clump of spaghetti under it. I could smell fresh bake bread in the oven and knew today was a good day. We did not have any matches this week so I devoured most of it. The rest went to Bones. He’s our German shepherd. He is Black with a tan face and the most beautiful eyes. He’s getting old, might as well let him eat.
“How was school?” Mom asked
“It was alright” I replied, the usual.
“How was practice?” She asked, though I am sure she already knew the answer to this one.
“It was a bit rough” I replied, with a bit of sarcasm.
Dad was back from work. He gave Mom a kiss then sat down to eat his dinner. He and Mom were high school sweethearts. They have a great relationship; guess that’s all I can ask for. We have a nice town home too, right on the corner of the sheet blue with white window shutters, yard in the front. Dad asked a couple questions about wrestling practice, and then went about eating. Sometimes I think that’s all he cares about. I guess when your son has some potential you get excited. Dad wrestled in high school. He was not great but at least he got me into it. It was a Friday so I figured I’d head out to either Cody’s or something later on. Cody is my friend, has been since pre-school. He does not wrestle, but I wish he would. I think he would be good at it. We usually just hang around his house, shoot the bull in his basement or play some cards. My weeks consist of wrestling, school, and friends.
Dad hasn’t been acting the same lately. He never really asks about wrestling anymore and does not seem to give a crap. I won my last tournament. He probably cares just isn’t talking about it. Mom has been rather quiet too. Maybe I am just thinking this. I do over think a lot.
Coach Scott is always hard on us. I guess that’s why we have a great wrestling program. All we do is drill, drill, and drill all day long. Sophomore year was a great year for me. As an underclassman at 126 pounds it was tough but I managed a 25-9 record. Not bad, enough to earn me a spot in the PIAA Wrestling Championships. Though, I would have liked to place, that’s alright. Sophomore season was a good one so was sophomore year. I am going to clubs in the summer to improve, add a few late nights and some women in there and that makes for a good year.
“Hello Dad”, I said as I walked in the door from wrestling.
“Hey Mark” My dad slowly said.
“Wrestling was hard today.” I said. But then I saw something, something I really never wanted to see.
“Where’s your mother?” Dad said kind of rudely.
“She’s in the kitchen” I said. At that moment I knew though that dad had been drinking again. All through this sequence he had been slurring and continued to act like an imbecile. And he continued to when Mom walked in.
“Mark, you should have placed last year! At states! You wrestled like complete and total garbage! You suck. Maybe if you worked you would be good.” Dad said
“Sam, that’s en-“, Mom tried saying but I stopped her.
“Dad, I’ve been working all summer to get better, sorry I’m not good enough sorry I can’t do anything right!’ I said, raising my voice. Dad frustrated me.
“Get the hell out of here and never raise your voice again at me. Ever.” Dad slurred sternly.
“Whatever” I said and walked to my room bout as ticked off and sad as I could be. Dad drinking again meant bad things. He always got angry and yelled a lot. He used to rink but stopped for Mom and I. Mom said it was bad. I wasn’t around. Who knows how long this has been going on? Meanwhile, I hear Mom and Dad downstairs fighting.
School starts and I stay with my main friends, Cody, Jacob, and Tamara. Jacob moved here in 6th grade and just has been close with me from then since we both wrestle, you know? Tamara moved here around the same time. She is attractive but one of my best friends I might have a crush on her I don’t know it is hard to explain. She is blonde, just a little shorter than me and very cool. My parents continue to not get along and I continue going to clubs for wrestling. I hate when my parents fight. It makes me want to just go crazy. I can hardly take it. Wrestling is my only get away. Coping through wrestling is what I got. Sometimes that happens in all the wrong ways though. Like the other day before wrestling I caught my dad drinking again so I went to wrestling very angry and confused. Why would my dad do this to me? I blamed it all on him and why not? It is his fault. The other day I was wrestling this kid taking some serious anger out. I couldn’t help it.
“Hey, take it easy” the kid said.
I replied “I’ll show you easy, punk.” I banged him with cross-faces. I gave the kid a bloody nose for God’s sake. Kind of felt bad for the kid, but he’s not in my shoes. He doesn’t get it. I go through stuff every day. He got what he deserved. I guess Coach saw because he pulled me to the side after.
“What the hell are you doing out there?” Coach said.
“Working hard, wrestling.” I said, with some sarcasm.
“Is there something going on? Because you just broke the kid’s nose for saying to take it easy.” Coach asked.
“No, nothing for you to worry about, I’m sorry.” I said
“Don’t apologize to me.” Coach said
Wrestling season is in and we won our first mach. I won my first tournament so things are looking up. Coach said he thinks I can place at states this year.
Dad continued to drink. Today, I come home from wrestling and they’re in a big fight. They were yelling and screaming. I do not think Mom can take this anymore. Next thing I know…
“Maybe, we should just split up!” Mom yells.
My heart sank. I swallowed.
“Just know that this is not my fault you caused all of this, but whatever makes you happy!” Dad said.
2 months later…
That was that. It was hard. Mom was heartbroken. Dad, well, was drunk. I couldn’t really take it. There were several instances where I flipped out again. Basically, I got labeled as the team douche bag. I’ve never dealt with things like this before. Jacob said something to me on the way home from practice.
“There’s no need to act how you have been. Everyone is tired of it.” Jacob said.
I replied quickly “Put everyone in my shoes, Jake. See how you like it.”
“You’re not the only one to ever go through this.” Jake said
“Forget it, Jake. You’ll never understand.” I said
I went inside. Mom was in there. She was crying. As any good son would I went and sat down next to her.
“Don’t worry mom, it will be okay.” I said.
She barely managed to get it out, but with tears rolling out her eyes she said “No that’s not it.”
“What is it then, Mom?” I said clueless.
“Your father has been in a bad car accident. He is paralyzed from the waist down. He had been drinking.” She said
I lost it. We immediately went to where he was being held. They weren’t sure if he was going to make it. He wasn’t available at the time, obviously. The accident was very bad. Once we finally did talk to dad he had good news.
Dad said to me when Mom wasn’t there, “Mark, I’m so sorry. I promise to be at every match from now on. I swear I’ll stop drinking. I’ll be wherever you want me to be. I love you”
“I love you too, Dad” I said.
I really hoped he meant it. He was at every tournament and match. From his wheel chair cheering me on, he was my biggest fan. He and Mom got along real well now again since he was sober. I think they might get back together. She gets on him about staying sober. The one thing that gets/got me through Dad being paralyzed and the break up is wrestling. Sometimes it got me through in the wrong way, but it helped. I really hated the drinking; it made me feel like I didn’t have a dad. Things like that you don’t mess with.
In some ways this all made me better though. It helped me become a man. The extra practices and more time spent thinking about wrestling helped me to place 3rd my junior year and win it all senior year. It helped me get into a great college where I wrestled at Penn State. I wouldn’t have been there without this happening. Tough times are hard but if you stick it out, you will learn a lot. Mom and Dad got back together. I guess my life couldn’t really have been any better. Perseverance is something that can really get you far. It’s something I have learned to do is persevere. It has helped me deal with all things in my teenager years, along with wrestling. Wrestling helped too, wrestling is life.