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birth
Without being born, none of the rest of my life story matters. I have my parents to thank for that, I suppose. They tried to have me for almost a year, and finally hit the jackpot. -
parents split
My dad leaving my mom changed my whole family life and where I spent my childhood. My brother and I spent our lives split between two households with different rules and different ways of life. This has helped me to be more flexible and adaptive to different situations. -
first stepmom
My stepmom played a huge part of why our lives were so different between houses. She set rules that were different from my mom's rules. My brother and I had to adapt to where we were during the week in order to stay out of trouble. -
little sister
My little sister was the first girl born in my dad's family since 1939. She was born to my first stepmom and my dad. This made living at my dad's house even more different, because now my stepmom had a child of her own that she was raising along with us boys when we were there. -
my own room
For the first time, I had my very own space! Sometimes I felt like an afterthought, being the middle child at my dad's house, but at my mom's house, I had my own space separate from my brother where I could just have my own things and just be me. It was very freeing to finally feel like I mattered. -
another divorce
My dad's divorce brought me to a different neighborhood than I had lived in. It exposed me to some things early that I probably would not have learned from otherwise, like neighbors who openly did drugs, and how differently single men live, in contrast to men in relationships or marriages. -
new stepmom
My stepmom and I don't get along very well. She isn't as smart as my mom (or my first stepmom), and this is different to live with. She also has really bad periods that make her very reactionary and sometimes irrational. However, this has helped me learn how to live with different types of women. -
stepbrother
My relationship with my stepbrother has taught me that people change... a lot. We used to be best friends, but now he takes every opportunity to boost his own ego by proving to himself that he is better than I am. This is exhausting, and it makes me want to spend more time at my mom's house. -
brother leaves
Life has been very different since my brother left. My mom and I have learned how to live with just the two of us in the house. At first it was really hard, and pretty emotional, but I have matured a lot since he has been gone and my mom and I have deepened our individual relationship with only the two of us at home. -
online school
Primavera will give me the chance to make up the required classes that I messed up, With Primavera's accelerated schedule, I can actually have the potential to graduate on time with the rest of the kids that I grew up with at Gilbert High School. Graduating on time will give me the advantage I need to move ahead with a successful future.
