When I was growing up the only father figure I had was my step dad. He was always there for me since birth, but for some reason I always felt a disconnection from him. I used to claim that it was because ‘’he wasn't my real father’’ but the reality of it was because , he was more like my real dad than my real dad. My real dad never actually wanted me, my mom went into court ready to fight for me, but she walked out realizing that in the end it wasn't much of a fight. He didn't want me, he didn't want to care for me but my step dad did. For a while I never thought my step dad actually did, because of how much he would discipline me. Whenever he would punish me by taking away my phone or not letting me hang out with friends, i'd feel nothing but hatred for him. I would think ‘’wow here this guy is acting like he has all the right in the word to tell me what to do, when he's not even my real father’’, I always thought however, that the worst part was when my mother would defend him whenever I would say ‘’i hate you to him’’ and then slam my door which just lead to more punishment. I wanted her to leave him, only reason I never actually told her to do so was because he would support us financially. For threaten years all I saw him as was someone who provided for us. It wasn't until last year that I realized how much I actually loved him, and how much he actually cared for me. I realized that he only ever grounded me to teach me how to become a better human being. He's no Atticus Finch but he does come pretty close. I appreciate him now and even though I still  get angry whenever he punishes me, I know now see him as much more than someone who supports us financially, I see him as someone who I love with all my heart. If he lost his job today I  wouldn't care, all that I would care about was that he was still in my life, still teaching me the difference between right and wrong (no matter how much I hate it).