My Life

By Lisa When I was 13, my parents got divorced. Before that, my family and my life made sense. School was easy, I wasn’t reserved and I talked to people. I didn’t know why my mom wanted to divorce my dad. At first, I thought that the reason why was because my dad gambled and spent his money. But my dad rarely gambled and when he did, it was either to celebrate or to take a break from work. During the divorce process, my siblings and I went to school and were forced to act like nothing happened because our mom told us not to tellanyone our family problems. Because of that, I isolated myself from others and became distant from my friends. I was so depressed, that all I could think about was, “why? What went wrong?” As a result, my grades weren’t at their best. On top of that, my mom was fighting for custody of us and I was conflicted between living with my mom or my dad. In the end, I chose my mom because I knew that she wouldn’t be able to support herself and would be heartbroken if we chose our dad. I also knew that she wasn’t emotionally stable and that was another reason why I chose to live with her. When my dad moved out, I missed him terribly at first, but then I got used to it because I was juggling many problems at once. I was trying to stay on top of my game at school, and take care of my siblings while finishing homework and projects on time. During that time, I found out that my mom was going out with some one new. She introduced us to him and I didn’t like him at first. I didn’t know why, I just didn’t. I think it was because I found out that my mom was going out with him secretly before the divorce. She wanted the divorce so that she could go out with him in public and not behind my dad’s back. Then, a few years later, he showed his true colors. When he got drunk, he would verbally abuse my mom and one time, he hit her. I was angry with him and my mom because she wouldn’t break it off with him. I understood that she was in love with him, but that doesn’t mean that she should have to stay with him. When he wasn’t drunk and out of his mind, he was an honest person and nice to us. I believe that he has a two-face. But every time he would make my mom sad, she would come to my sister and me and use us as punching bags for her emotions. I just wish that she would spend more time with us because I feel like she spends more time with her boyfriend than with us. I was displeased but learned to cope with her instability while at the same time, keeping my grades up and taking care of my siblings. I hope that one day, my mom will break up with him and live her life with us.