Growing up with divorced parents taught me a whole lot of things at a young age. Growing up with divorced parents, I had no idea at the time when I was younger what the word "divorced" even meant, besides the fact that I was being driven back and forth every other weekend to stay with one of them.

At the age of 12 I didn't understand why it was just me going to my moms and not all three of me and my sisters. I didn't understand why they didn't want to go anymore, she was our mom, why would they not want to spend time with her? At the age of 14, I didn't understand why I couldn't go anymore, I didn't understand why my mom couldn't drive an hour to come pick me up. I didn't understand how her car suddenly broke down every single weekend 10 minutes before she was supposed to leave. I didn't understand why I wasn't worth it to her. When most people ask what my favorite childhood memories are, the first thing that comes to mind are the many hours I spent waiting on my mom to pick me up, or wondering when I would see her next. Now at the age of 19, I can finally put these memories into something that I will always live by and stay true to, and that everyone else should stick to, too. I learned from waiting, wishing, and hoping, that you should never, ever spend your own precious time waiting for someone to want to spend their precious time on you, too.

You should not waste your time surrounding yourself with people who make you feel unwelcome or unwanted, you should not waste your time on people who don't think the world of you. This life is a gift, and you, yourself are a blessing to anyone that is lucky enough to be in your life. Too often we forget this, we forget that we are here to love and to be happy. We forget that we can't sacrifice our own happiness, to make everyone else happy. We are here to pick and choose who we want in our life, we are here to decide to be happy. I didn't know then, and I still don't know why my mother never treated us the way a mother should treat her kids, but I know now that it taught me this lesson. I know that although she wasn't there for me, she taught me this lesson because she wasn't. I know that I have come across plenty of people in this life that have made me feel unwanted and I never want to spend time around those people again because I know what I'm worth.

Life is precious, and I think people get so caught up in trying to impress others or fit in, that they forget that. They forget that our time is limited and that we only have so many days to make memories, and to laugh as much as we breathe. We forget to take the time to appreciate our loved ones and take in the moments of happiness because they are what truly matter the most. We all go through things that we wish we didn't have to experience, nor did we ask for, but that's the beauty of appreciating the better things in life.