The Importance Of Growing Up In A Single Parent Home

From a young age to now I have seen, felt, and dealt with many things most people my age have yet to experience. I have seen my mother struggle with finding who she is by using drugs as a way to cope with the “pain.” I have felt the absence of my “family” when I needed them in the most troubling times in my life, and I have dealt with many traumatic experiences. Due to growing up in a single parent home for most of my life I have experienced and seen financial hardship and the burden it put on my mother daily. As a teenager I was sexually molested by a family member and physically abused by a boyfriend. Up until I went through those things I thought I was invincible. I thought things like “if that were to happen to me I would get out immediately” or “that wont happen to me, I would tell …show more content…
From birth my mom has always had it tough. My mother’s parents were very strict because of her cerebral palsy and she became very deviant, as she got older. Having such little understanding about cerebral palsy at the time my mother was constantly labeled as “different.” She lashed out often because no one understood her. After her mother died at age 21 she was kicked out of her home and was homeless. Being alone and having to find a job full time became very stressful for her, which led to her ongoing drug abuse. After having me my mother would struggle for the next 18 years with raising a child and dealing with her own battles. My mother never had access to the resources social workers can provide such as housing so she was never able to get the help she needed. This has led to our ongoing daily life struggle that I have become very thankful for. Although my mother and me have not always been in the best situations my mother has always been my mentor and encouragement. She has pushed me to go to college, and she has helped shape me into the independent hard working young woman I am