I've lived with my mom and two brothers for as long as I can remember. My dad passed away when I ten years old, and his death changed me because it meant I'd be living with just my mom. When you live with just one parent as a child, it forces you to grow up a little faster than others kids and you never take anything for granted. When we lost my dad my mom told us that everyone in the house needed to step up, so that meant packing our own lunches some days, making sure our laundry got done and always having a clean room. Just having my mom around for these past ten years changed me as person; it has made me stronger, independent, mature and grateful. So thank you mom, for you all that you did for us, thank you for molding me into the person I am today.
When you're forced to grow up after a traumatic death like that it means you learn to not ask a million questions and do what you're told. This is what my brothers and I did growing up, we acted mature and stayed quiet because we never wanted to stress our mom out. So you learn to bite your tongue essentially, that's one life lesson I've learned from this. You can't always just blurt out comments or opinions, you sometimes have to bite your tongue and just be respectful.
Another life lesson I became a master at doing was learning how to wake myself up everyday for school and pack myself a lunch AND send myself to the bus stop. Not many kids can say they did this from the time they were in elementary school up through high school. Well, you learn how to be self sufficient and never solely rely on your parents, this is something I learned and it truly comes in handy as a young adult. I still know friends who have their parents wake up them, or do their laundry, but for me I started doing those things when I was twelve years old. In a way, I am happy I learned to become self sufficient at a young age because it's helped me tremendously while being in college.
Finally, I learned the importance of being grateful for the life I have. My mom always told us that we had it good and I always believed her. We did have it good, we had a roof over our heads, food to eat and clothes to wear. What more could I ask for? My dad's death changed me completely. I've learned so much from it and it has truly shaped me into the person I am today. I miss my dad everyday and I wish he was still here with us, but that's life. We can't always get what we want, life can get messy, and all we can do is just power through it and never give up.
Thank you mom for everything, all the life lessons you taught us, and thank you dad for leaving us in good hands. I love you both to the moon and back.
