Life Ruining

A few years had past since my family had become a statistic, when my sister and brother left home on their way to their own goals in life. This new change produced even a greater effect on me than did the departure of my father. Now came the time where I decided if no one else had to stay in the family, neither did I. I took this opportunity to become closer to my friends and their families hoping to become more welcome there than I did at home. It was not long after my constant deviation from what was left of my family that my mother decided she was going to keep me out of the house for extended periods of time. Now the time had come for me to really find my path in life.

I remember on my first day of preschool, my mom told me, “Abby, don’t tell your teachers about your family.” Sitting in my car seat, at the age of 4, I was starting to become overwhelmed with confusion. This confusion bubbled up inside me for years. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask my moms, but I did not have the courage or the strength to ask. Then I grew up. My perspective on the world changed, and I realized that my parents were seen as a calamity to society. That was my perspective though. I wondered what my mom’s was. How did she grow up in a world that only saw her as a flaw in the system? So I asked. Beth Shaffer’s perspective on her past, the present, and the future is an astonishing story.

His survival is heavily influenced by every choice he makes, from ignoring the exhortations to escape impending danger to choosing to stay with his father in spite of difficulties. His experience with the Holocaust directly shapes his role as a frontline fighter for recognition of Holocaust victims. In moving to Canada, I also shaped my role in society. My skills, such as playing sports; hobbies, such as reading; and characteristics, such as persistence and studious attitude have all developed due to my moving to Canada. My exposure to a life so plentiful in opportunities has also caused me to take many things for granted. Events in people’s lives shape who they become. Some of these circumstances are brought about by the decisions of others, while the majority of occurrences are caused by deliberate choices. These decisions can shape destiny in a life-or-death situation or a can be like a small, yet equally profound, choice to smile at a stranger. While some decisions are out of one’s hands, a conscious effort to have a positive outlook on life can still influence destiny. Like a rudder, daily decisions made with a positive mentality can steer people to a prosperous life. It does not do well to dwell on what may have happened, but rather on how the life one creates can be consequential in further extending the development of

I came home one day to see both of my parents sad. As a third grader, I didn’t completely understand at the time, but my father had been laid off from the job he’d had since his teenage years. My father had started at the age of eighteen as a student worker at Southern Miss, and after years of hard work he had been promoted to the manager of shipping and receiving on campus. When the recession struck, the need to save money resulted in his position being terminated. My father was without a job. My father loved that job and when he lost it, he changed. He found a new love, alcohol. He let his love for alcohol become an addiction. He would do anything for alcohol; he even had secret stashes when my mom had removed all the prior alcohol from the house. Quickly my father became a violent drunk and began to routinely beat my mother and me. He became unstoppable; no person could get him back on track so my mother, in an attempt to keep me safe, removed him from the house. Even my mother’s best efforts weren’t always enough, as my father constantly broke into our house. One day my mother and I came home and my father was waiting in our den with a gun. We walked in, he pointed the gun at us, and then back at himself. He couldn’t decide to kill my mother, himself, or just all of us. He had more hatred in his eyes

“My dad enjoyed alcohol; a lot. He never yelled at us, but when my mom was having her ‘episodes’, that was what we called them, he would leave us alone with her. He said he had trouble dealing with her when she was having problems. I think he was cheating on my mom, but I could never prove that and he would never admit to it either.”

Profound in the love shared between the father and son, their sense of unity kept them pushing through the pain for “each the other’s world entire” (6). In a society painted by shades of grey, one cannot help but at times feel the desire to fade into the world full of suffering. In the father’s perspective “there were few nights lying in the dark that he did not envy the dead ” (230). However, the man is fortunate because he has a spark in his life that motivates him to keep going- the boy. Many others before the man took their own life in an attempt to rescue themselves from the doomed life ahead. However for the father, “the boy was all that stood between him and death” (29). The father possess such love for the boy that no matter what the situation is he will never take the easy route out. He will never put his own needs over the boy’s. He will never leave him to try to fend for his own. Furthermore, if the boy were to ever depart life before him he “would want to die too” (11), thus proving that the boy is the father’s incentive to carry on. With the love for his son in mind, the father is enabled to carry on with his life. During a difficult situation, love encourages one to see it to the

The subject of parents consuming alcohol and how it affects their children is one that has plagued this world since long before the introduction of the first Samuel Adams. Alcohol damages brain cells and can prevent someone from making correct decisions. Having alcohol in one’s system can lead to violent and very dangerous rampages, and adding children to this mix is extremely harmful to them not only physically but also emotionally. Dr. Michael Windle explains that “alcohol abuse can interfere with parenting skills and marital relations, thereby affecting adolescent development and adjustment” (Effects on Children of Alcohol Dependent Parents). Under the influence of an alcohol dependent parent, children will often grow up in a

"The happy childhood is hardly worth your while." These words both troubled and comforted me throughout the reading because they hint at the sadness people hold onto when they are a product of an unhappy childhood and at the same time they proclaim the resiliency of those who are able to survive. Frank McCourt rose up from the despair of his childhood to create this touching memoir that really made me wonder how he survived to become a teacher and author. It also made me question how many of my students are struggling with hunger, poverty, addiction, and family strife similar to McCourt. We really do not know the burdens others carry, do we?

I could not possibly get into trouble on the first day of Kindergarten. Usually when you describe a particular experience that you have learned a vital life skill, something negative happens. However, I learned a vital life skill of managing impulsivity by getting rewarded, which does not happen commonly, or for me at least. I learned to manage my impulses by getting rewarded with the memory, and skill. If I derailed, and lost my passengers, then my reward would be shame, and a bad memory, but I would still learn my lesson, but not in a positive

A few weeks ago I was not stained by the knowledge that evil exists in the world. I lived with the Smith family, who always gave me treats and even let me sleep in their bed. I recall the days when they would take me to Dairy Queen and get me the dairy free vanilla ice cream. After consuming all of the sugary goodness, I would ride home in the car perfectly content with my full belly. During these journeys, they even allowed me to stick my head out the window so that I could feel the wind tugging at my fur, the sun warming my face, and the smell of the ocean tickling my nose. These were the days of freedom, of happiness. Thoughts of misery or fear never creeped into my head. Everything seemed to be falling into place in my life. A

Life starts quickly and ends quickly. There is no way to stop the inevitable end that things come to an end and it has to be taught that you have to accept it because no matter how hard you try you can’t change what life has set out for you. Life isn’t all bad, there is a lot of good in it and you have to make the most of it because the time we have to spend is short. One bad part of life is where you lose your innocence due to something you experience, or you’re told something isn’t real that you believed was for your whole life. My innocence was on a steep hill to nothingness when I was eight years old. The slow descent from innocence to losing it happened when one of the closest people in my life had been diagnosed with alzheimer's and

I still remember one of the first times I got into trouble at school. I was in the 4th grade, Mrs. Babinecs class and one day, I was messing around during classwith my best friend. We were always laughing and talking together in school and we still do the same today. Luckily, our assigned seats were right next to each other, which for us, was a miracle. We were learning something new in math and we were super bored so we started talking to each other and some others around us. Our teacher told us to stop and be quiet but we didn't care or listen. I remember her saying,

Since I was A a little kid I always got in trouble. I would fight with other kids, I would climb A a tree without permissionpermision, sometimes I even put Aa spider on my sister'ssisters bed. So, I always got in trouble for everything I did. Then everything changed when I was 3 years old.

Alcohol dependence is sometimes known as alcoholism, and occurs when an individual relies on alcoholic substances to get through everyday life. A recent study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that 26.9 percent of people ages 18 or older have engaged in binge drinking in the past month, and 15.1 million adults age 18 and older have an alcohol use disorder in the United States. More than 10 percent of U.S. children live with a parent with alcohol problems (Grant et al, 2004). Alcohol dependence has the capability to severely hurt children and spouses mentally emotionally, as well as family dynamics. Often times, families blame themselves for a loved one’s alcohol dependence, which causes tension and puts strain on the interpersonal relationships within the families. Children often times feel as though they are to blame, and when they notice a parent drinking heavily and frequently, they often assume that they are the cause. Children with an alcoholic parent are more susceptible to depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse themselves. According to the Polish Journal of Public Health, “children raised by alcohol addicted parent are influenced by some destructive biological, psychological and social factors. The greater number of stressors and time of their action, and the weaker developmental predispositions, the greater probability that mental problems appear

Alcohol Dependence, also known as alcoholism, is a very widespread disabling addictive disorder, affecting 4% of Canadians. Alcoholism may start innocuously, due to the acceptability of social drinking, but over time, can lead to serious health problems, including brain, kidney and liver damage. Although alcoholics seem to be doing the most damage to themselves, they are hurting their families even more. Lesser-known, but just as serious victims of alcohol abuse are the alcoholics’ children. The negative effects start in the womb, where drinking during pregnancy often causes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and other defects. After the baby is born, the risks continue, as the children in alcoholic families tend to lack a stable family