Freshman year was great. Everything basically remained the same with my friends. My home life was changing though. My mother and step-dad were fighting all the time. They started sleeping in separate rooms, and my mother started sleeping around. She even had her new boyfriend move in while my step-dad was still downstairs. And yes, they were still married.
My older sister had my beautiful niece, but I got stuck watching her all the time. Once my step-dad had moved out, she started parading guys through the house as well. It was a mess. I started skipping classes. I wasn't doing my homework. I became dangerously close to that lifestyle too. (Without the drugs and drinking, I refused to go near all that)
I spent every moment away from my house as I could. I clung to AM, MM and SM as much as possible.
Sophomore year, my mother being who she is, just could not understand what was going on with me or why I was doing so horribly in school. So she yanked me out, and made me switch schools. I hated it. I didn't get to see my friends anymore.
I made a few "friends" at my new school, but I was so over everything going on in my house. I'm glad that she pulled me away from my friends a little, because it was enough to push me over the edge. I lasted all of a quarter at that school. I called my daddy and told him I was ready to come back and live with him.
He asked me if I wanted to go to the public school near our house, or if I wanted to go to the private school my little sister was attending. I was shocked that I was given the choice. That's why I love and respect my parents (daddy and step-mom) so much. They loved me and respected me enough to ask what I want. I chose the private school because it was smaller, more convenient for them transportation wise, and I'm a bit of an elitist sometimes. A private school sounded awesome!
I went back to my mom's for the summers, the same way I had been with my dad previously. I spent all the time I could with my friends. I wasn't really there to see my mom or sister anyway. One summer, I even planned it all out so that AM and MM could pick me up at the airport and my mom wouldn't even know I was in town. I spent a week with them before I finally decided I better show up. (This was the summer after I got my cell phone, so it was easy to pull off since my mother and daddy never talked).
While I was living with my dad though, I called each of my friends often, and vice versa. MM had moved to a different town as well, and so the four of us talked as much as possible online. I would also like to note here that I went from barely passing many of my classes in Montana, to a 4.0 GPA with my dad. Home life truly does affect children.
My grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer my junior year, and so for spring break, I went back to Montana to see her. My mother had moved to another city though, and so I stayed with my step-dad and his new wife, AL, who were still living in town. I did go see my grandma, but it was really hard. She slept most of the time, and could barely talk. So I spent most of that week with my step-dad, AL and my friends.
I got to know my step-dad better, and we really connected. Without all the drama my mother caused, he and I get along really well. I am so grateful to have him in my life still, even with my mother out of both of our lives. Of course, he's been with me since I was about 4 years old, so it's not like I ever thought he'd leave me.
His wife AL is really good for him. She's nothing like my mother. She's understanding, and she's easy to talk to. She's forgiving, and she's loving. I'm happy she's there for me now, too. My mom has put her through a lot of crap, but AL still accepts me and loves me, even though I am the spawn of demon woman haha.
Despite everything, turning 17 is when I started to truly despise my mother and see her for who she truly was. She forgot my birthday. All day I waited for her call. It never came. I called her the following day and asked her why she didn't call me. She had no idea why she should have.
Once I moved in with my dad, and she started learning about my report cards, she knew that I would be graduating. At that point, she had 2 1/2 years to plan a trip to see me graduate. It's not like my older sister graduated, so you'd think it would be something special for her. She didn't come. She didn't try to come.
You know who did come? Everyone from my daddy's side of the family, my step-mom's dad, step-dad and AL, and they even brought SM with them for me. AM flew in too. I was still in school during their week of graduation, so I couldn't be there for theirs, but they came for me. MM couldn't make it because she was still in school and graduating herself, as well as family obligations.
Before everyone left, I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life...
No comments:
Post a Comment