Transcript
Like I said, he just really used to isolate hisself,
and I didn't like it because when he's got that idle mind,
when he's just in the privacy of his own,
his mind starts to wander.
And when his mind starts to wander,
then who's the one that he calls to pick on?
Olivia's the one he calls to pick on.
And before, I used to cry sometimes, and I used to feel bad,
and I used to feel like I was just this horrible daughter
who couldn't make her father happy.
My grades were never good enough.
I just felt like I wasn't good enough.
But as I got older, I just started to realize that
it really wasn't me, it was, you know, the PTSD
that he was dealing with.
And one day, I just came out and I asked him,
"Is there anything that you want to talk about?
Just talk to me.
Just let me know what's on your mind."
And that's when he started telling me about
the things that he witnessed when he was overseas.
That's when I found out that someone in his unit
got their back blown off, and he witnessed that.
It was nights that he would tell me that, you know,
he just had dreams and just woke up in sweat
because he's having a flashback of the things that he saw,
and it was hard for me because
I didn't know how to deal with it.
I know, being a parent, you try to protect your children,
so to speak, from any harm or any danger,
and not being able to actually do it,
it just kind of makes you feel handicapped.
So I felt handicapped because at the same time,
I wanted to be there for him, but I couldn't relate
to exactly what he was going through.
So you just kind of had to play it by ear,
and it was either hit or miss.
With some arguments, you know, they ended calmly.
We got through to one another, and everything was fine.
Other arguments, we'd go to bed upset
and not talk until the next day when I got out of class.
I mean, you never know.
You just have to be prepared for anything.