Life

LIFE

''I'm not a child anymore; I can take care of myself." This is something that I often said during my upbringing. Many adolescents have been known to make this statement during some stage of there life. I realized growing up that this was actually a common misconception in that it is exactly opposite of what is needed in a descent upbringing, of which will prone your child to be independent and successful in life. Although my relationship with my mother seemed as if it was crippling and guiding me to be dependent in life, I came to realize that she was molding me to be independent, by being my advocate, mentor and friend.

My mother was my advocate in a number of ways to which I owe much gratitude. She was my protector and the person who I could always count on in any situation. For example one night I asked my mom if I could go to a party and she told me no, I thought that she was trying to prevent me from having a good time. The next day I came to find out that there was a shooting at the same party that I was not allowed to go to. Before learning of the news I felt as if I was being denied some of the freedoms to which many teens are allowed. In a sense I felt separated and belittled in comparison to my peers. On a separate occasion for my first vehicle I asked to receive a motorcycle. Immediately after asking I received my answer of, "no they are too dangerous." It seemed as if she was rejecting my request without even giving it any thought. Soon after my close friend's father was in a fatal motorcycle accident. At the moment I found out it made me realize everything that my mother had been telling me. It made me realize that certain things she did were not just to be mean but for my own protection, because of this I now consider myself to be her protector.

"The smallest decisions you make in life affect you the most in the long run." This is something my mother would often tell me. I admit that I did not understand what she meant, I thought she was just rambling on about the little things that she didn't like. Over time my understanding of what she was saying grew, and got me to where I am today. Mom would always give the best advice about the situation to come; it was as if she knew what was going to happen. Looking back on it her advice kept me out of a lot of harmful situations. My mom would always tell me, "I've been through every situation that your experiencing and more." Over time I found this to be very true in every case. Things I thought no one had ever gone through she had already been through, our discussion would always end in her giving partial answer. She believed that for me to learn I would have to figure things out for myself, but was always there for that little bit of guidance