My father was always saying that when I turned eighteen I had to get a job and move out.
I graduated high school and turned eighteen a week later.
He said I needed a job, and to find someplace to live. He raised me to be a man and it was now my responsibility to take care of myself. My mom looked devastated that he was kicking me out, but I understood. I had been forewarned from the time I became a teenager, and I had a plan. I had talked to my guidance counselor told him I needed a job when I was in tenth grade. He set me up with a summer job with the HVAC company the summer before my senior year. The summer job went on to being a part-time job while I was in school. I loved working at the HVAC company, and I learned much about HVAC systems. When graduation rolled around, I had more than my parents in the audience. Half the HVAC technician were there, and the owner of the HVAC company was there for me. He talked to me dad when the ceremony was over, and told him how proud he was of me, and he was sure dad and mom were even more so. He hoped dad didn’t mind him putting me in an apartment so I would be within walking distance of the HVAC school he was sending me to. Once the HVAC company owner left, Dad stared at me and asked why I hadn’t said anything to him. I shrugged and told him he brought me up to be a man.