Missing My Father, 2006, by Elizabeth Zarantonello

From MemoryArchive

Who: Elizabeth Zarantonello
What: Obstacles
When:
Where: Bardstown, KY

We all have to overcome obstacles at some point in our lives. One obstacle for me was when my dad went to Haiti as a missionary. My dad has been going to Haiti for six years now. This obstacle is not as major as some other people’s obstacles, but it was pretty hard for me.

I was always daddy’s little girl and I always hated it when my dad would go on business trips, but he would would call every night to say hello. When my dad first went to Haiti I really had no idea where he was going. I thought it would just be like any other trip. Little did I know, it was absolutely the opposite.

Haiti, for most of its being, has been unstable and pretty dangerous. I learned this right after my dad left. Not only was he in a very dangerous place, but we had no way to communicate with him to see if he was okay. Then after a few years after my dad had first gone my brother, Jared, went. Jared was my best friend and was leaving me too.

The physiological and emotional effects were so terrible, and I would never wish them on anyone. I was constantly wondering if my dad and my brother were alive and if I would see them step off that plane coming home. I would miss school several days because I just could not stop crying.

Every year they made it back safe, with only a few incidents that happened. They would tell me wonderful stories about the people they met and the things they saw, and Haiti in a way became a part of me. We have been raising money for a parish in Haiti since my dad first went, and have raised almost 100,000 dollars a year.

This year, the country is a little safer than it was and I get to go with them. I don’t have to worry about them any more.