Their Minds Have Opened Or Their Hearts Have Been Broken?

“How many things have to happen to you,” Robert Frost Writes, “before something occurs to you?” A person wakes up every morning to the same gray walls and eats the same flavorless slop. Seeing no changes they seem to ask themselves if life is worth living. They are unhappy but are afraid of new environments and unknown areas. Wishing things can go back to when their worries were as simple as trying to memorize the multiplication tables. Although it is written that change is in every person’s destiny, there are several reasons a person might or might not seek out change. For instance, a person’s environment or way of living can be one of the hardest things to change. Living in the projects, bills to pay and people to obey are a few reasons many steer away from change. Secondly unexpected life events like suddenly having to become a parent and learning how to raise a baby while trying to balance sudden deaths that may occur. Thirdly, discovering a person’s true emotions for another human being can create what I like to call a domino effect. Whether you consider the environment to be the atmosphere around you or the place to which a person calls home, one thing is certain that in any environment a person must adjust in order to survive, and through any adjustments comes change.

I was so scared that my father would come back for another blow up. I then heard the stairs getting louder like my mother was step in down the old wooden steps. My mother walked over to me sat on the window seat with me and held me tight, she was started tell gn me riddles to get my mind off of my father, several long hours later my father walked up to us crying and sobbing over what had happened he said,”I'm sorry about this incident, I've just been so stressed with work and home that I don't know who I am anymore,” I told my father I loved him and forgive him. Ever since this day it has been drilled in my memory and hurts me every time I remember. “ see kid”, said the stranger, I've had some tough times in this house and you are going to go through tough times just like me. After the tour of the house the man had thanked the family for letting him remorse from the house. The father had shut the door and locked it. I thought

This quote shows that people can be different then they can be, people can ultimately change for the worst.

This says to me that in order for a person to change they have to first become aware of themselves and how they perceive and understand themselves in relation to the world.

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

He would come home wasted after weeks of not being home; of me wondering where my father had been all those weeks. Staying up late on school nights just wishing for him to come home and tuck me in bed, to tell me he loved me, to ask me how my day was, or just tell me that he was there to stay. As a first grader it is hard to explain to your friends why they can not come to your house to play just knowing that if he is there that he will be drunk yelling at my mom for nothing. It got to the point to where he would come home after a few days and grab a suitcase and leave to go with his new girlfriend for a few days or even weeks. Right before he would leave I would always have hope that he would tell me where he was going or take me with him. I just wanted a father. My mother always told me that he would be back and to have hope; to always trust in her and that she would always be there for me. She was always my rock when I was younger. Until one day she finally told me what a monster the man I called my dad was. He was an abuser, physically and mentally. She told me the truth about the man that I wished was in my life for so long. He never wanted me. I was the youngest out

“People change for two main reasons: Their minds have opened or their hearts have been broken” (Quoteistan.com). In the novel Whirligig by Paul Fleischman teenager Brent goes on a joy ride under the influence of alcohol. On that night many lives changed forever. Anyone can learn from their mistakes and change for the better.

From a very young age I’ve experienced and seen many unbelievable things, things that no child should ever see nor go through. One of these memories I remember as if it happened yesterday took place when I lived with my mother and her boyfriend. This man who I believed was kindhearted letting us move from our trailer into his apartment would go to be a person seared into my mind through fear and pain. After a few weeks he would start abusing my mother on a regular bases the same way he did to me. One night, he started striking my mother and even though I knew what could happen to me, I found the strength and tried to intervene.

Every day I went to see my father, in the worst state I have ever seen anyone. He could not talk to me, look at me, feel my touch or remember I was there. My dad had been unconscious for almost a month and a half. Even he gained back consciousness, he could barely remember anything that had happened or that anyone had come to see him. I believe the thing that had changed me the most had been that I had to grow up and make extremely adult decisions suddenly. My boyfriend and I had been the only ones in my family who were responsible enough to talk to the police, the doctors, and put together the pieces. We had numerous talks with the police about the reports, what happened and when, who had hit him and where was his vehicle. Unfortunately, the police had a description of a car but had not an idea as to who had hit him. I also had fed his dogs every day and kept his house safe, making sure that no one had broken into his home. I also had taken care of his insurance. I talked to the doctors about big decisions and surgeries. Even after my father had been released from the hospital’s care, he had been taken to Greenville County Detention Center on charges of a

As a kid I only got to see my dad on the weekends and those were the best days I had, I never understood why I couldn't live with my father full time because my mom never lived a stable life. My mother wasn’t as bad as it seems, she always made sure we had food and somewhere to stay even if it wasn't the greatest, even living with my mom my dad still paid for almost everything I had. When I was about 8 years old I lived in Mccomb and it was my dads weekend and I was so excited to get off of school and go see him, When I got home I was shocked to find everything packed up and my mom told me to get in the car, I was so upset to find out that me, my two brother, and her and her boyfriend were off to Florida. The whole trip to Florida I balled my eyes out and all I remember was that I kept saying that I wanted to live with my dad and that I hated my mom, I wondered how she could just up and leave without telling my

As time passes, people change depending on the situation. A companion who grew up with an individual begins to witness a different side that they have never seen before. When one sees a friend go through a wearisome situation, they begin to see their companion in a different perspective.

When an individual’s perception of someone significant to them changes, their impression and outlook on life does as well, thus resulting in their character and interaction with their environment to be altered.

It was a late summer afternoon in Crenshaw Los Angles. The sun is setting and I was sitting at the stairs of the two apartment building I lived at. I was waiting for my dad to return from work. Down in the street gust of wind blew torn paper into spirals. The sun was shining through the bright blue empty sky making it hard to see through the distance as the light shines through my eyes. My father was walking towards me with the harsh light of the sun outlining his body. As my father began to come closer to me the sun began to set even more. Light fading away as soon as my father stood in front of me. As he stood in front of me I was able to smell the fresh paint that was stained on his pants all the way up to his neck. He then squats down in

I felt so bad because i knew she didn’t raise me like this i know my mother raise me good i choose to do wrong. That same day i cry and pray for myself i needed help i needed to find myself i needed to change for good. 4 weeks past my court day was on a monday in the afternoon that monday came i got myself ready for court and for whatever was going to happened i walked down the hallway and open the door and sat down and waited for the Judge to call my name my body start getting hot my hands start shaking i was scared. My name was called i walked inside the courtroom i stand in front the judge lady she said claudia u were charged with battery claudia servie her time claudia will be discharged today at 3:30pm then after that she said you are a pretty girl promise me you will not come back here again if you do i will give you 9 months in jail i was so happy and i said thank you and i promise i will never come back here again the police officer took me down to the first place i got when i first walked in jail he took of the handcuffs and gave me my things and clothes i change and i was picked up and i was gone out that place that was the happiest day of my

Growing up in a household where abuse ran uncontrolled, dismissive of all human affection, has left me with a recollection of memories that refuse to leave like a cruel stain on a shirt that resists fading. The furthest memory I can recall is back when I still lay in a crib and wore a diaper, I was about a year old. I had been woken up from my sleep by my father. He had not yet lost all his hair, and sported a greying moustache which would be lost as I grew older. He had decided to wake me up by beating me.