Family Conflicts

My father has had many problems with my grandparents which has resulted in many conflicts between them. To start off, my father worked forty to sixty hours a week on my grandfathers farm starting at the age of nine without pay.  He did this because my grandparents had promised him that when he grew up he could have a place farming with them and they would buy him a home and property.  My dad liked this idea so he worked tiring hours from when he was nine years old until he was eighteen without complaint.  When my dad turned eighteen my grandparents had then told him that he was on his own and if he wanted to be successful like them he would have to earn it all by himself.  This is the starting point to where my father turned very bitter.  Growing up, I hardly got to see my grandparents, and when I did it had to be with my mother.  It was always awkward and nobody ever knew what to say when we would come visit. One experience that affected me most was seeing my father at my grandfather's funeral.  He had not shed one tear or would help comfort my grandmother.  Never had I seen someone act so indifferent during a "loved ones" funeral.  I almost think he may have been relieved by this.  Although I have never been close to my grandparents myself, it is easy to tell that their relationship with their job was much more important than with their family.  With all of this though, it is not so bad.  By having been treated so cruelly by his parents, my father learned what not to do as a father and cherishes the bond we have.