A Bottle Son

Somebody told me one day that “the children’s problems are children of parent’s problems”; I’ve been thinking about that sentence for many days, and it took me some time to accept the idea.

Alcohol abuse  

I’m Mickey Mantle’s son, Mickey Jr., I say “son” because my mother taught me to consider him like a father. But, sincerely, for me, he’s an unknown person. I don’t have remembrance of Mickey’s Mantle in my life; when I close my eyes and try to feel him hugging me, or saying something hard (rebuking) to correct me, like a common father, I can’t remember him, and it frustrated me for  long years. I just remember the smelling of his addiction, every night.

In my childhood, I spent many hours studying about my grandfather’s life, and what he might have done to my father to make him a problematic person. But I didn’t find anything. On the contrary, I thought if my father could have done the same, coaching me, like my grandfather did to him, I could make my dream to come true: being a baseball athlete.

But, when I read his text “My time in a bottle” and his letter to my grandfather, I understood part of his feelings, and I found hope and good things in that strange man called “my father”. I could have been a wonderful athlete, a better person, I know, I could be happier and satisfied in “my world” if Mickey Mantle’s had been in my life like a true father. 

But I don’t blame him, because he could be a better person if my grandfather had been better too. I don’t blame my grandpa, too. So, whose is the fault? Adam and Eve? 

I prefer to think that we always tried to be or do “OUR BEST”, but “try” is different to “achieve”. So, I accepted my father like he is. I know all his mistakes, I hate them at all, but it isn’t a reason to make me no to love him and learn with his experiences. So I’m gonna say it to him, tonight: “father, I love you”.

by Amanda Laíza dos Reis Mota

Barone English's student

level 5
Medicine student at UFSCar


Note: This text is result of Barone English’s methodology. Different writing techniques are developed every unit. Besides that, the students make presentations about the same theme, based on their researches.