My Family

One weekend, we had decided to clean out the house to surprise my mother. My father found papers stashed away that revealed theft charges; my mother had stolen medication when she substituted for the nurse in my elementary school. I remember my dad scouring the house for more evidence, even finding a stash of pill bottles under their mattress. She had another court date coming up that he learned about, just a few weeks before a family trip to Disney. Shortly after that hearing, my family took our last vacation as a whole, knowing that a key member would be lost to us the Monday after our return; she was going into work-release for two months. Before the end of those sixty days, my father learned that my mother had been unfaithful. Their marriage ended, and at eleven and nine, my sister and I said what we didn't realize would be goodbye to our mother for a great while. Her drug abuse continued, and months of time would pass between visits. We saw that sweet, ideal mother devolve into an addict. This loss has shaped me greatly, and it has taught me integrity, strength of character, and great love for others; without these things, my mother cost herself her family and

I grew up watching my mother strive to give me a better life and become a better person. Amongst great difficulty, she decided to finish school and attend university. Her hard work and determination have marked and defined my life. Every day she had to work, then go to university and later take care of me. She excelled in every aspect of her life, teaching me that the impossible is overcome through hard work and

When I was living with my mom, things were really hard. We have been homeless, living from paycheck to paycheck, and even depending off the government to keep us alive. My mother made a lot of mistakes that taught me what not to do. She was abusive, alcoholic, irresponsible

Watching my mother live from pay check to pay check when I was young was difficult. It was always hard for my mom to keep up with other parents but, she still somehow managed to get me everything I wanted, and more. Even though I was too young to understand, I could feel the stress, and the struggles my mom faced every day. She was only 20 years old when I was born and, because of that she had no choice but to grow up fast. At such a young age, I saw the effects of being a single parent, and the ways it changed my mom. She not only had to be a young mother but, she had to find a way to replace the void of a father, or a father figure in my life. My mom was strong, independent and courageous. Growing up watching her live her dreams under all the circumstances she faced, made me want to strive for a better life for myself. Seeing how hard is was to live and to have enough

My parents got a divorce at a young age leaving majority of the custody of me and my two sisters to my mom. Being a single mom, making ends meat is hard enough but my mom went above and beyond. As her career was taking off in corporate america you would think she would seek help taking care of me and my sisters by hiring a nanny or have our grandma watch us on a regular basis but she had none of that. While she took a high position in AT&T payroll being one of the few women in her line of work she

In the past eight years, I’ve had to deal with numerous hardships in my life. I was only in the fourth grade when my life started to crumble before my eyes. I found myself trying to piece together life at such an early age. My parents got divorced in November of 2008, leaving my mother as a single parent of two girls. At times it seemed like the three of us were not going to make it. We were on the verge of losing the place we call home. My father left us high and dry and in severe debt, but through it all, I never once saw my mother fall through the cracks. She handled every situation with dignity and pride. My mother always made sure my sister and I had what we needed. We ate even if it meant she had to go to bed hungry. Having to watch

My mother had gone through it all, especially with me. As a kid, I dealt with a lot of anger issues and a lot of different problems and she always stuck by me no matter what. She always wanted to help me with whatever it was I was dealing with and at the time she put me through a lot of therapy. As a kid, I looked at therapy as a punishment, but as I got older I saw that my mother was just trying to help me. During the 2008 housing crash, she lost her job and she was unemployed for about 3 years. During this time, money was very tight, but she never stopped looking for another job. She sometimes would work two part-time jobs just to support me. She went back to school to try to change careers, unfortunately she couldn 't. She tried to do the most that she could and did everything in her power to support me and to make sure that I live the best life that I could. Without my mom, I don 't think I 'd be where I am today. I owe her almost everything in my life.

My mother never had an easy life. She had to raise two of her own children single-handedly while being in her late adolescent years. I lost my father to a

Living through hardships such as an abusive childhood and financial instability has never stopped her. Raising my sister and I by herself, she worked hard to earn two master's degrees and move to a high paying and well-respected profession. She has always been a source of support to me and has served as an example of what hard work and perseverance can achieve even during great hardship. Whether she is cheering me on from the sidelines, or actively helping me with something such as writing a term paper, my mother has always been a source of empowerment and

Due to my sisters leave, I realized a lot about my mom when I got older because my sister was never there anymore to keep me busy. My mom was selfish, and lied a lot. I didn’t realize my mom struggled so much. She was homeless once and I had to live with my

Growing up, my mother grew up with a pastor as a father and a teacher as a mother. Both parents were strict, and extremely traditional. My mother and hers siblings wore conservative clothing, and were home early on the week days and weekends. All were forced to do good in school and be fully true to God. Their life was all about tradition and doing what their parents told them to do. My grandma wanted my mother to go into nursing so she would be the one to take care of the family since my mother was the only sibling staying back in Iowa, rather than my mother’s sibling who have moved all over the country.

Family. It’s one word that has a different significance for every individual. There’s multiple uncontrollable factors that can change crucial aspects of your personality, such as whether or not your parents are together or the number of siblings you have. These features can cause one to be either satisfied or discontented in their life. Most do not think about the stability of their family; after all, I never thought about it until mine began collapsing.

I waited for the black truck to arrive at my door. I never knew my aunt, uncle, and cousin, and now they would become my new family. However no one could really replace my real family. My Mom, Dad and younger brother got into a car wreck. I was the only survivor. My heart still aches from the experience. To make matters worse, I would have to leave my home in New York to go and live with my closest relatives in the country. My emotions and thoughts were acting like they had been put in a blender. I was happy that my extended family was willing enough to take me into their care, I was sad because I would have to live away from my home and friends. Everything will be different nothing will ever be the same again.

Losing a loved one is never easy. There will be pain and heartache. There will be Days where you do not want to get out of bed in the morning, and days where you just feel angry. I know when my family was struggling with the Loss of my baby brother, though he was just a few days old, it was unquestionably heartbreaking. Seeing my mom in the depressed state that she was in made me cling to her and I refused to leave her side for a long time after his passing. I know that I am not in your exact situation, and I will never fully understand, but I hope that I can provide at least some kind of comfort in this time of loss that you and your family are experiencing.

I was seven years old when I was told that the parents who raised me were not my biological parents. I clearly remember the day that my aunt reveled the story how become her child. The story begun with her intellectual and revolutionary younger brother decided to become the president of Ethiopian Airlines Labor Union, who stood against the military dictatorship Ethiopian government. My dad was one of the leaders who coordinated a peaceful declaration for strike asking the government to give the power to the people. My dad, became the one of the most wanted for a campaign of mass killings called Red Terror, after seven people were shot and about 300 employees were arrested at her work place. The Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2015P) reports, “Estimates for the total number of people killed in the Red Terror range from 50,000to 140,000 to over one and a half million”, which included several universities students, educated and professional young men and women.