I wonder what happens to the fathers of bears. Do they just go away?
Leigh has been reading Mr Henshaw's book about moose and bears and is writing to let him know that he really liked it, but his first thought is always regarding the fathers in the picture, because he feels like the only child in the world whose dad doesn't care about him and wonders why other fathers stay with their children when his did not.
I feel terrible. If Dad loves all those things so much, why can't he love me? And maybe if I hadn't been born, Mom might still be riding with Dad. Maybe I'm to blame for everything.
Leigh asked his mother why she and his father divorced. She told him that they had married too young but that she had grown up when he never really had. They used to ride in his truck together and go wherever the mood took them, but when Leigh came along things changed and she knew that more stability was needed. Leigh's dad loves driving his truck, the freedom of the open road and going from place to place and so did not want to give up the trucking life he loved to settle into something else. All Leigh really heard was that their relationship changed when he came along, and so blames his arrival for his parents' divorce and unhappiness.
I am mad at Mom for divorcing Dad. As she says, it takes two people to get a divorce so I am mad at two people. I wish Bandit was here to keep me company. Bandit and I didn't get a divorce. They did.
Leigh has really come off worst in his parents' divorce as they did not want to live together anymore, but he did. He longs for the time when they both lived at home and he had two parents and a dog. He doesn't get to see his dog anymore because of the divorce and it seems like a punishment when he did nothing wrong. His dad has Bandit and his mom has her work and his friends but Leigh is loneliest of all and that seems desperately unfair.
