Aww, hell, why not?
My hardship lasted a long time; the first 14 years of my life.
My parents divorced when I was very young so I never really got to know my meth-head father, and I lived alone with my alcoholic mother. We lived in a crummy house next door to my grandparents, who were the ones that kept us clothed, fed, and a roof over our heads.
My mom drank an awful lot, except I didn't understand that at the time. When she would act strangely and quirky I didn't know what to think. Whenever she started crying out of nowhere and talking about how horrible her life was I had no idea what to think. When she threw up after a day of feeling fine I had no idea what to think.
Mom started dating around, and the guys she picked out were real assholes. There were a couple who were nice, but mom mostly met them through working together. She worked at gas stations and Hobby Lobby so...
The worst guy ever came around when I was in fourth grade. Things were really crazy then. He was a drunk, like my mom, and he was an angry drunk. The bastard thought that violence was the only way to solve problems. After about a year my mom finally grew a backbone and left him. He tried to pay her to come back, though.
After that chapter in my life my mom and I moved into my great grandparents old house that was infected with brown recluse. She still drank, but by that time I knew what to think. I didn't like it at all, but it wasn't like I had anyone to tell. My grandparents were already stressed enough and I didn't want to upset them.
My mom met a guy, and he was pretty nice to tell the truth. They hooked up when I was eleven, and were together for about two years. Spring break of 7th grade, while I was in Texas with my grandparents, they got hitched. I was happy for my mom, but I didn't know if I was going to be ready to move in with a stepfather and three stepbrothers.
I lived with them until the beginning of ninth grade. My mom still drank despite my stepfather's wishes, and there wasn't much he did to try and stop her. I didn't get along with the youngest boy that lived there, so I moved in with my grandparents. There were times I felt like I was just running away, but I think it was a better option than staying there and watching my mom continute to waste her life even though she had found some sort of happiness.
In 9th grade something clicked and my intense shyness and anxiety disorder turned into panic attacks. I was scared, confused, and I didn't know what was going on with me. I thought that I was going crazy and that I would be sent away. No one ever really told me why I was in spcially classes for people that were emotionally disturbed, but after everything set in I understood. The panic attacks lasted for two years along with depression. It wasn't until I started taking Prozac and went to counseling that I was able to sort myself out.
Sometimes I still have anxiety, and I'm still shy, but I can handle going places.
Sometime during 10th grade we had the house on my great grandparents land bulldozed and Grandma set up plans to build a new bigger one. Thae one we had built is the one I live in now, and I'm really happy here. We have two stories in our house, and that's something I had always wanted. We have 15 acres to roam around on. We have a lot of animals, and I seldom feel lonely here.
My mom doesn't drink anymore. She went to rehab. She did have a relapse at one point, but she attended AA meetings and got back on her feet once again. She is still married, and she even took a pracitcal nursing course. She works at a family planning center and is very active in the community. She went "Marching for Mamograms" and she volunteers at the SPCA. She's very hapy now.
I'm happy too, because I have a sense of balance in where I live now. I graduated with the class I've been with since I started school, and I met some really good friends during this time. I have my grandparents, my friends, and my now happy mom. These last two years of highschool were by far the best, since I finally gained control over myself and climed out of the emotional hole I fell into. After everything, I don't think I'll ever take smiling for granted.
