Divorce

The stressor that affected my life when I was growing up was my parents’ divorce. My parents got a divorce when I was 12 years old. Before my parents divorced, I had been a responsible student, and I had excellent grades. When my mother filed for divorce she took me, and my siblings out of the school we were attending, move out of the house, and left the city we were living. I remember how dramatic that was for me. I was crying when my mother picked me up at school, and I cried all the way to my grandparents’ house. I left my school, my friends and my father, and I felt that I was leaving a part of me behind. In that new stage of my life, I took the role of my mother’s helper. I helped with house duties and to take care of my 3 siblings. My mother relied on me for many things and gave me many responsibilities. As a student, I never went back to be the responsible student that I was. I became rebellious, irresponsible, and my grades went down. I started skipping school and hanging out with the wrong people. I was very resentful at my father and the life I was forced to live. I made new friends in my new town, but I was never again able to create attachments with them. I lost trust in people, and I only believed and relied in what I can do myself. At the age of 16, I became a mother and everything change again. I turned to my mother for support, and she did not fail me. We bonded again and developed a wonderful mother-daughter relationship. I decided to do well in school again, I finished high school went on to college and graduated. When I look at my past, I can identify why I do things the way I do them now. I became an independent and self-sufficient woman at a very young age. I still do not trust a lot of people and I have a hard time opening up to friends. I was able to forgive my parents for everything that I went through with their divorce, but certainly there are things that I cannot change now.