Reflective Essay: Learning The Truth In My Life

Learning the truth can be a scary experience. One of the many things I had to come to terms with at an early age is the realization of having little to no control over my own life. A helpless child, my mother would call it. Adults, and some teenagers who acted as if they were adults made all the decisions in my young life. I grew up with older sisters who helped raise me most of the time because my mom was never home. It is eight of us, six girls and two boys. For some of us though, well, the ones who were minors or that wasn’t raised by someone else, our lives experienced a separation that never reunited. My moment of being is the separation from my siblings and being placed in foster care for the last time. New situations didn’t frighten

This placement with this stranger of a sister gave me the strength I didn’t know I had. I was forced to be more independent and learn new things without the proper guidance from her or my mother. What I thought was going to be a much healthier environment turned out to be toxic. Freedom went days and sometimes weeks not saying anything to me. I grew to deal with it and used it to become a better person. I saw firsthand that letting your past stay alive can hinder your future. She was so bitter about everything and constantly brought my mother decisions up to me like I asked to be in the situation I was in. My strength came from the experiences that I went through at such a young age and it has made me fearless in some of the scariest situations I encounter as an adult. I am a true believer though that everything happens for a reason. Ultimately, I learned that the separation from my family made me be thankful for the bad things in life because they open my eyes to see the good things I wasn’t paying attention to before. The love I did receive from my mother wasn’t that greatest but damn sure better than fake love given to me out of sympathy. I cherished every moment I did spent with my mother and siblings after the adoption realizing one never misses what they have until its gone. All I know was I didn’t have the best upbringing, but the love was