Personal Narrative: My Mom Changed My Life

As I was about to enter the second grade, my mother decided to take me with her, my stepfather, and half brother, Drew, as they moved to New Hampshire. My father and stepmother, Diana, would stay in Rhode Island, and I would visit with them a few times a month. There, away from the prying eyes of my father and other family members who might see her behaviors, my mother allowed her alcohol addiction to take over her life completely. Each day, she would down bottles upon bottles of hard liquor; she would remain slumped in bed as her speech grew garbled and, if she did manage to get up, her walk was more of a lurch. My stepfather, whom I never got along with very well, enabled her to drink by paying for her addiction. It was impossible for

Hating my mother would be a complete waste of my time, and she has wasted enough of my time already. Instead, I do not think about her often. If I do, it is in passing and typically with little emotion. It has been nearly four years since I’ve seen my mother, and have not spoken to her in almost three. As of right now, I do not feel the need to change this. My father and stepmother are loving people who have treated me so well and been far better parents than my mother ever was. When I speculate about how much less happy I would be if I were living with my mother, I am reminded of how lucky I am to have my father and stepmother who not only helped me achieve independence from my mother, but have helped me grow massively. They are supportive and loving, and have provided everything I need and want ten times over. I have learned that I make decisions in my life, and that I am in control of my own actions. I don’t feel that I have been dealt some terrible hand in life, or that God, or whoever you may believe in has done me an injustice. Although my mother has taught me to lie, to binge, and to treat the people I care about poorly, I will not be like her. I am a loving, honest, and intelligent person and I will never use my mother’s behavior as an excuse for my own, because I am better than that. When I have children, which I truly plan on and look forward to, I will be an admirable parent. If I am faced with my own problems, I will never, not ever, put them through something like my mother did to me. When I tell my children I love them, I am going to show that in my actions as well. I might not be happy about what I endured with my mother’s addiction, I am happy that to take such important lessons away from it. Becoming independent from her is likely one of the best decisions I have made so far in my life, and I would not change a single thing about the