Lost Time
• A girl growing up without a father figure •
Kora West
November 16, 2016
“This is a prepaid call from…Chris Robertson…an inmate at Arkansas Federal Prison. This call will be recorded and monitored. To accept this call, press 4.” This is what Paytience Robertson, 20’, gets to hear at 7 pm each Sunday.
It’s an emotional and heart wrenching experience having your dad gone all of a sudden. “We were just a normal, happy family.” Robertson says. “I was always happy and never had any bad days with him.” Although she was only 1 and ½ when her mom and dad split up she still remembers the good moments her parents had after their divorce.
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“My dad is gone and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”
— Paytience Robertson 20'
Robertson spent lots of time with her dad, Chris Robertson, and her stepmom. Robertson remembers going golfing with her dad and how he would always smell really good. Her dad was always her go too and when he left, she didn’t know what to do. Robertson says that she and her mom, Rachel Myers, “connect about him being gone, but she doesn’t understand how much I am really hurting about him being gone.”
In August 2011, Rachel sat Robertson down and said her dad had gotten into some trouble and won’t be back for awhile. She didn’t really realized what happened, but once it sunk in, the only thing that was going through her head was, “My dad is gone and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” Robertson remembers being very angry with him for the longest time and cried out for hours on end. She went from being spoiled and having everything she wanted to just another average 9 year old.
Chris was arrested for having possession of guns, theft, and drug use. He has now currently an inmate at the Arkansas Federal Prison and is serving a 20 year sentence. One question that keeps running through Robertson’s’ mind is, “Why would he keep doing what he was doing if he knew he could get caught and leave me for a long, long time.”
Robertson and her family goes and visits Chris every few years. They visit for 2 days. Robertson says, “The first day is always the best, everyone’s happy and it’s fun. But then the second day; that’s the worst. When you walk through those doors to leave, you know you won’t be seeing him for a while and it breaks your heart.” It’s a bit awkward seeing Chris just because she have grown up so much between the visits and they lose the bond they had more and more each day. There are often times when she finds her left thinking about him and what he’s missed and it hurts. You don’t realize what you had until it’s gone.
Robertsons dad gave her a ring with two hearts intertwined. She says, “the ring symbolizes me and my dad and how they will always be connected.” She hopes to reconnect with him when he is out of prison and regain the bond they use to have. “It has definitely been a challenge growing up without him, but I’m glad I at least have my mom.”
