K.D. Absolutely's Reviews > The Truth About Forever

I thank this book for giving me an important insight on what could be going on in the mind of a 16-year old girl in today's world.

You see, I am a father of a girl of that same age. The age of the Macy, the narrator-main protagonist of this book.

My daughter is my only child. For the past 16 years, I have been trying to be a good father. But what is a good father? Since there is no school in good parenting, most of my styles come from what I thought were the good points my father showed me or what I thought he should have done or showed to me but he did not. This could be wrong. Reasons: (1) Those experiences were for a father-son relationship; (2) I grew up with 3 other siblings; (3) I was 16, 31 years ago - almost 1 generation in between. So, times, indeed changed already.

Macy loves his father. They run together every morning. The father dies of heart attack one morning when Macy is too lazy getting up from bed. So, Macy thinks that her father would still be alive if she was not lazy that morning. She blames herself but she doesn't tell this to anyone. As an outlet for this guilt, she tries to excel in everything she does: in school, in the library where she works or in her occasional job at Wish Catering. She thinks that by being excellent, she will be able to please her dead father and that somehow will ease up her guilt.

Since the birth of my daughter, I've been trying to be a hands-on dad. When I was growing up, my father was almost always at home because he was a plantation owner so he did not have to work at all. So, in a way, he was there when I needed him but just like many "traditional" fathers: he was distant especially when he was busy playing chess, drinking with his friends or reading newspaper. He stayed seven years in college but was not a diligent (my impression) student and I could not remember an instance when he helped me with my homework except to correct my grammar or pronunciation when I read aloud my speeches prepared as required by my teachers. I knew that my father was proud of us when we got good grades, medals or distinctions for excellent performance in school but he did not show any emotion in front of us. I thought that I would have been happier as a child if he jumped up and down when I bought home medals from school or when it was announced that I was in the top 4 of my graduating clss in high school.

So, when I became a father, I was like that. Always jumping up and down and really appreciative of whatever good news my daughter told me. Each day. Each school report card. Each school year. I always tried attending her school events. I was always eager listening to whatever news she brought home from school. Pre-school. Elementary. High school.

Little did I know that she was feeling the pressure. She thought that I was expecting too much from her. She thought that I would like her to achieve what I achieved. I knew this not even from my wife but from my wife's older sister who was closed to my daughter.

So, where did I go wrong? Where is that balance between too little and too much?

That was the dilemma of Macy in this book, The Truth About Forever. Where is that point to strike and the seesaw will stand still? She thinks that Jason does not love her despite her trying to do her best in her work in the library. She feels the pressure that she has brought to herself. She assumes so many things that the unnecessary emotions have bottled up and so the seesaw is not balanced and her feelings are all mixed up and her life is in turmoil.

I'm too old to appreciate her romance with the tattooed Wes and I did not really care about his dark past. Maybe my daughter would love this book. But for me, I still liked this but not for that reason, that same reason why my Goodreads friends, liked this.

I read this as a father and I liked it.

Thank you, Tina, for recommending this book. Thank you, Sheryl for lending me this copy! Thank you, Maria for being my reading buddy. I struggled finishing this book. I felt the pressure but it was worth it! Thank you! Thank you!