Personal Narrative: How My Mom Changed My Life

When kids in school used to ask me about my mom or dad, I made up stories. My mom was studying to be a nurse, my dad was an entrepreneur who owned his own business, and they were both too busy to take me to school, so my grandmother walked me there every day. All of these stories were actually true at one point in time. I just omitted some major pieces of information because no other 3rd grader I knew would be able to understand my unique situation. The truth is that my parents struggled with addiction. They cycled through periods of being sober and using drugs, and I just tried to keep up with the cycles of sleeping over my mom’s house, or sleeping over my grandma’s house, or seeing my dad on the weekends, or not seeing him for a year at a time. My mom really did want to be a nurse and enrolled in a nursing program. I remember, during a period in which she was sober and I lived with her, she studied every night after dinner. I enjoyed coming home then, watching tv, and playing with the cat. My mom made the best spaghetti and meatballs, and she put me in charge of making dessert in my Easy-Bake Oven. I prefer to remember those moments, much more than the times when I scavenged the refrigerator for anything at all to eat, or hid behind my

He was an electrician who worked for himself on various jobs. I never actually lived with my dad; my parents were split up for as long as I can remember. But when he was sober, my brother and I frequently visited him on weekends. My dad liked to take us on little adventures whenever he could afford to; sometimes it was Canobie Lake Park or a trip up to New Hampshire to see my grandparents. I enjoyed eating ramen noodles every night (since my dad couldn’t cook) and riding in my dad’s work truck, which was full of all his tools and equipment. These are the moments I cherish; they are far better than remembering the last time he dropped me off from a weekend adventure and never came