Get-Away-Personal Narrative

Throughout time, practices that were once never used, become more common. In the 1600s divorce was a forbidden practice or a last resort. Since then, laws have changed, and so hasn’t the stigma related with divorce. The guilt and fault that divorce once carried has vanished. According to the book Should I Keep Trying to Work it out, “In the United States, researchers estimate that 40%–50% of all first marriages will end in divorce or permanent separation. The risk of divorce is even higher for second marriages, about 60%.” (Hawkins 42). As it became more common for couples in America to separate, divorce gradually became a normal part of so many lives. Why are so many couples separating now? Through research on EBSCO, and other findings, I will attempt to explain this question that so many people ask in today’s world. The divorce rate in America is drastically increasing over time due to new laws, certain generations, and relationship issues.

Well to get started it was the blistering cold winter of 1861. I was an only child well I guess after 10 long years I was. My little brother Todd died when he was 7. Todd suffocated and fell down a chimney when he was cleaning it. My dad died when I was 4. He was working down in a coal mine and CRASH, the mine collapsed. If you think that's bad it gets worse. It was my mom and I left in a small house that could barely even fit us in it. My mother never told me how she felt she only cared about me, she worked 22 hours and barely made enough money to feed us. But I can tell you that all the money she got she spent on me so I had enough food and drink, to live.One day she came home crying, I knew something was up and there was. My mother had diphtheria, I tried to help I really did but there was no use. Her last words were,”Timmy make me proud and have…”She never finished.

The next morning, we all gather our belongings, pack them in the truck or van and gather in between the two vehicles."Noah was at a camp, just outside of Richmond." Rick says, leaning against the van's side. "It was secure, it had walls, twenty people. Beth wanted to go with him, wanted to get him there." He looks at the ground, putting his hands in his pocket. "It is a long trip but if it works out, it's the last long trip we have to make." He had hope in his voice, desperation to finally find a safe place. "And if it's no longer there?" I ask what no one wants to, but is thinking. "We keep going." Rick nods. "Then we find a new place." Michonne chimes on. No one says anything more. "Okay, let's get moving." Rick breaks the silence. We relocate to our sitting arrangements of the previous night. Carl, Noah and I try our best to get in the most comfortable positions we can discover while moving around. A few minutes later we, as well as nothing to do. I resort to

I love it here in Nevada. I knew what I was getting into after my first visit. So none of this is a surprise. Remember I was excited when I saw the brother in dreads. By the way his name is Frank. While I’m here I don’t see me doing a lot of networking outside of the project. I’m very certain this is part of God’s plan. This is my season for isolation and reflection. There aren’t really any distractions here and I know God placed me here for that reason. Usually when I have had these moments in the past I came out of it with some life changing strategies. That wouldn’t have happened if I were in NYC, Atl, or even back home in Houston. I’m embracing this opportunity understanding it’s part of my growth and on the other side I will come out this new person. And I’m sure that there’s no super-secret group here. Now there are some very wealthy people in this area especially in the Lake Tahoe area. So you never know who you’re going to meet, but there aren’t enough black people to even have a small MLK parade.

It was a right of passage where I grew up. Beer cans littered the backroads and glistened in the moonlight. For miles around country music filled the honeysuckle perfumed air, boots hung out the passenger windows, and mud flung off the tires when we hit the highway burning rubber as far as the tires would let us. Those nights we spent on gravel roads making memories with long time friends are irreplaceable but it all changed in a split second on a beautiful, warm, and sunny morning. When my phone rang and his Moms voice came over the line and all I heard was "He's gone." Before the screaming started. It took me a while before I realized it was me screaming and I sat on the floor and waited for him to call. I thought if I waited long enough

I just stood there looking out at the dead, mud covered grass sledding hill watching my brother fall out of this sled causing me to laugh. Little did I know this night would be the last night I though God was there watching over me. That hill that almost killed me was a barren wasteland of ice that still to this day scares me. After my dad walked back down and up with my brother it was my turn to go down the hill. I wasn’t nervous, but thinking back on it sends my stomach into a frenzy of butterflies. Anyways, my dad pushed me down the hill, half way down the hill all I remember hearing my dad shout was “Bail out!” What does that phrase even mean to a 6 year old 1st grader who can barely read, almost absolutely nothing is what I questioned in my own mind.

Get me out of here. I know something is about to happen, I feel it in my gut. It's a setup for failure, really. A party at an estranged house on the edge of the city full of nothing but intoxicated and incapacitated teens. Something is bound to go down. I started to think of ways to get out without just bluntly saying it.

For the fifth time that night, I walked over to my mom’s bed to see if she was breathing. I felt the relief wash over me when I saw that she was breathing. She had started to slur her words after dinner around six thirty. Judging by my past experiences this meant she popped a handful of her usual pills around quarter to six. There was nothing out of the ordinary for me in the situation. This was every day life for me, the years leading up to my first year of high school. I was fourteen, and I had been taking care of her from what felt like the time I could walk. Little did I know that would be the last night I had to wake up in twenty-minute increments to check on her. When morning came my bags are being packed, confused I asked what was going on? My aunt walked in to the living room and simply said, “you will be living with me.” Just a short phrase changes my life forever on a day I’ll never forget. It was in the

A time someone used “get-my-way” tricks would be when my friend, Payton would help me, but that always came at a price. For example, Payton would offer me rides to school without me asking then when she wanted something she would remind me that she gives me rides to school then making me feel obligated to help her out. While, I never asked her for rides to school she manipulated me into feeling like I owed her something. Every time Payton would do this I knew what she was doing, but I also hated riding the bus so I would help her out even though she thought she was manipulating me. Now looking at the situation it would have been smarter to not help her out because I constantly felt like I owed her something when I knew I didn’t owe her anything.

Our society has become nonchalant about the dynamics of divorce. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, co-director of the Rutgers University National Marriage Project, “Divorce is now part of everyday American life” (Sheehan-Johnson & Paine, 2013). In Brian Orchard’s 2011 article, A Culture of Divorce first marriages have 45 percent chance of breaking up and second marriages are given 60 percent chance of being unsuccessful (Orchard, 2011). Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and Brian Orchard both agree marriage and divorce have changed due to the relationships within the family structure. Whitehead states, “Americans began to change their ideas about the individual’s obligations to family and society” (Sheehan-Johnson & Paine, 2013). Women became more independent during the

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." -Romans 8:28

Moving, although natural, is not easy to most people. How many things are involved when you have to leave your school and friends behind to go to a place totally unfamiliar where anything could go wrong? For me, more than I could count since my family decided to move four thousands miles away.

He stops moving against her and holds his head up, “Jada, make no mistake this is all mine (He inserts his fingers in her vagina) and…I can keep you in a room and fuck you for days.”

5,4,3,2,1, “GUYS FIND THE KEY NOW” BOOM this was the end of our time at KC Escape as the “bomb” goes off and we do not win but we get a positive score in the game we call KC Escape it was very fun until we got really close at the end. There were other things leading up to this, like picking up everyone to go to Alex Brewers birthday party. My brother and I were about the 4th and 5th person in there of about 11-12 kids going to be there at the end. There was about 11 of us in the room and it was really intense at the beginning. It was really fun the whole time for me.

At age three I said “I love you mommy.” At age seven I said, “Mom, stop kissing my cheek!” At age fifteen I say, “You’re so annoying – I can’t wait to move out!” At age eighteen, I’ll be saying “I miss home.” At age twenty-seven I’ll be saying “I miss my mom.” At age forty I’ll be saying “I miss you so much; I wish you didn’t have to go.” My mom is the sun to my shine.