The Importance Of My Life

I sat on the stairs with tears streaming down my face. I look up, sobbing as I wipe the snot from my nose. “This is goodbye for now, but I promise I will see you soon”, my dad had said as he held me. I grabbed onto my dad’s shirt as he tried to put me back down on the stairs and I felt as if my whole world came crashing down. Growing up with divorced parents was a challenge, but it has changed me drastically and for the better. I had to take care of my younger brother during the divorce, which made our relationship stronger and would mature me more than I would ever actually realize.

Fast forward to 8th grade English class, and my teacher told us we had to write a memoir about a moment in our life that scared us. Since I had many of those moments all throughout my life, I didn 't know which one to pick. I didn 't decide what I was doing until the day before it was due when I sat down at my grandmas computer to type and print my assignment. I contemplated writing about all of my near death experiences, but settled on something else.I decided to write about the one thing that changed my life forever and that still haunted me to the very day and every moment. The topic, as you can guess, was my father.

The year was 1945 September 2nd when the news came. Accordingly to the newspaper, our troops were coming home soon. Hitler and his troops surrendered and Hitler apparently assassinated himself. The day before was a normal barefoot day for me, running the cane poles on the old Messer Creek. Everywhere I went, was briar patches that were havoc on my feet. You could her the commotion for miles or yelling and cursing the sharp prickly little devils. I knew our troops were overseas fighting Hitler and his Nazis and I was proud of them because my daddy got drafted, I prayed for them every night before I went to bed. I didn’t know when my daddy would be back, but I knew it would be soon. I was the man of the house for over six years today. Putting meat on our table, making sure the garden is taken care of, and feeding and milking the animals, for six years exactly. I had to take place of my dad, that means chopping wood, checking and fixing fences, cutting cedar fence posts if the

I jumped out of my bed like a missile and looked out the window so fast that I almost hit my head in the window. I watched all the cars that was passing by. My uncle came to my room and asked me “what is happing here?” he looked at my calendar it was Saturday the day that my dad comes back. “Jonny, I have to talk to you” I looked at him and walked on my bed towers him. He sat on my bed and explained to me that my dad had lied to me that he’ll come back because that sound that I heard at night was your dad fighting with your mom for me, she herds that my dad was mad at me just for a slice of bread so my parents divorced. I looked at my uncle’s eyes, my heart almost stopped, tears slide down my face. I was in my room crying for my dad to come back for 2 hours. Nothing was the same without my dad. When I came back home from school, I cried “I’m here dad … oh” I was alone with my uncle. All the paintings that me and dad were on my wall, I used my step stole to take down the pictures and put it in a shoebox. I could not believe that he abandon me…by a

We walk back to the shelters to get some sleep, and I sit there awake for a minute until my father falls asleep. In the morning when I awake, my father is very sick, so I take him to the doctor. The doctor rejects to help because he is a surgeon. I take my father back to the shelter to let him rest some more. I leave him to go outside to get more coffee. I think back to all the things me and my father have been through. Losing my mother and sister will always reply through my head, remembering them holding hands and moving off to the left, and my father holding onto my hand, and we walking away from them. The last thing I got to do was just look into there eyes and turn and walk away. Once I got back I found my father not there. I knew where he had gone, they had taken him to the furnace. I dropped to the floor wanting to cry, wanting to have a fit like a normal teenager. Deep into his feelings he thought “Free at last.” He was free to only think about surviving, and not to worry about anyone but himself. I will miss my father. I love him. I will never forget how much he did for me, he is the reason why I am still

My first memory was sitting in my dads old, gray pickup staring at the stars as he drove the highways back home. Tired from a day of stressful travel, when in previous hours I was on a leash led by my mom in the airport. My dad has always created a sanctuary everywhere he went, which was a vital skill growing up with a homeless father. My parents began their long unpleasant divorce when I was two, whereas my dad was gifted a restraining order entering the house. I didn’t see him for months until he was granted permission to pick me up from preschool with a bottle of chocolate milk in his warm hands. Their divorce created a hole in everyone’s lives that each of us tried to fill separately. Mom was never home, working three jobs, going to school full time, and filling that hole with cigarettes, beer, and boyfriends. My sister filled it with endless sleepovers and friends, while I had three friends that I never saw outside of school.

As a young girl, I never quite understood the importance my dad’s job had on me until I became much older. Throughout my childhood I was often mistreated out of the sight of my parents. From brutal words to simple exclusion, I never really fit in at my church. I was constantly separated from all of the children because I was the Pastor’s

Throughout my life, I’ve gone through everything that could possibly put me in emotional distress. I’ve been down a broken road with my father, the man I love so much I’ll make every excuse for whenever he disappoints me. I’ve encountered life where it’s not so enjoyable due to unacceptance and never ending judgment by my biggest critic, my mother, the woman whom I should feel most secure with. However despite the emotional mounds of pain these matters carry, I was able to lift the suffocating weight long enough to realize everything that burdened me, made me strong enough to have the will power to be independent and make life changing decisions on my own. At three years old, I met my biological father in a local supermarket’s parking lot; I remember vividly, the exact moment when this stranger held me in his broad, strong arms. I recall screaming at an immense volume not even laying eyes on him. All I had been focused on was finding my mother, the woman who played both parental roles in my life. This clearly justified the great state of confusion I was in in his presence since I wasn’t at all aware I even had a father. As I grew older, the visits to my father’s house became the norm and having begun developed a “best friend” type of relationship with him, I found myself crying more and more when I had to go back to my mom’s settlement. I never wanted to leave; my life became filled with happiness, filled with a father’s love I had never felt

It had been two month since I decided to live with my dad after his divorce. Actually, I’d never want them to break apart. I loved both much. But, I didn’t know what on their mind. Parents sometimes were complicated just like childish. I inhaled deep breathe for many times and I really didn’t know for how many, and once again I saw my dad kept an eye one me. But I didn’t care, not really care. I hated this situation so much. I missed my mom.

The ride home from school was as chilling as the ice on my car windows. My parent’s angry voices seemed to reverberate off the walls of my minivan and into my small confused head. The rest of my night was filled with “why would you do that's” and “what were you thinkings”. Finally my parents ended their repetitious rants and allowed me to adjourn to my bedroom; I couldn’t stop thinking about my father, whom I thought I’d be making happy. I thought I was supposed to do! I thought that my dad had all of the answers but in that moment I think I realized that he didn’t. For eleven year old me this was a shock, it turned my world upside down and I had to find someplace else to put my trust in; to get my answers

I was in my room delightfully playing until my mom told me that dad died in the war. My tears were dripping down my face, I didn’t believe her. My throat felt clogged, I didn’t know what to do. I screamed loud and clear and let my emotions get the best of me. I knew I wasn't the only one who was sad though, mom was too. I let myself cry in my bedroom. I was thirteen when that happened. When my dad died in the war, the world was a gloomy, dark place and it felt dead...life felt dead. When I turned fourteen, I got over my dad dieing. Instead of crying in my room, I trained hard and followed all the rules he told me when I was young. My dad was a humongous influence on me. My life goal was to make him proud. It was hard for me at times

My mom always told me “Nothing is permanent, what may seem like the centerpiece of your life now will not be the centerpiece tomorrow.” One of the most reoccurring centerpiece in my life seems to be struggle and I am extremely grateful for it. Through all these obstacles I have reaped valuable lessons and gained experience. Through self-discipline I learned that I could accomplish anything if I put my mind to it. When my parents made the decision to separate during my sophomore year of highschool I was put in a situation that really made me think differently and how much I valued my own happiness and those around me.

Famous musician, Arthur Rubinstein once stated, “There is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings”. Walking to school every day since being first enrolled in pre-school exposed me to a world different than what was displayed in television every morning. Cartoons would display joyful people out in the streets, clean sidewalks, and worryless kids. Once I would step outside of home and take hold of my mother’s hand and begin walking, I would see a world very different. Homeless sleeping on the dirty, uneven sidewalks became a daily scene I’d watch on my way to school. Streets littered with empty beer cans and bottles, used syringes, and a gray sky is what I remember most. Becoming very observant of my surroundings helped me develop the understanding of real world problems very early in life, shaping me as more of a critical thinker than others. My middle school experience changed me. As the agents of ICE drove away in a gray van with my father under their custody one Saturday morning, my life went from just identifying differences between real world issues and what was portrayed on television, to now living a struggle I was not prepared for at all. Knowing that my father would never set foot in the household again, I was now referred to as “the man of the house” by everyone who became aware of my family’s situation. Seeing how my mother was the one to take the biggest hit of all really took its toll on my new sense of responsibility. My mother would now only have her income to depend on in order to maintain the house, her business, and her three kids of whom I am the middle and only male child.

My mom’s death may have brought chaos, but I truly believe that the silver lining of this situation was that my family grew closer together. My parents were divorced, so my dad was not a big part of my life. My dad slowly

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” ― Tom Bodett. In my entire life, there are a few words to describe who I am: happy, positive, hard-working, kind and generous. Because of this, I have always wanted to be a doctor, who I believe can use all these traits in everyday life; also, it always been my hobby of mine to help people, which is one of the reasons why I love to volunteer. There are many aspects in my life my family, my friends, my ethnicity, my beliefs, and the media that shaped me to be the person I am today, and the person that I hope to be in the future.