My Story

When I was about nine, my mom remarried. She had been through a divorce, luckily a relatively smooth one and fell in love a few years later with my stepdad. My life changed immensely when four other people started sitting at the table for dinner, and staying the night in my room and couches. At first all the other people coming around made me so nervous. I was such a timid kid so I didn't make new friends that easily. I wanted to talk to my two new brothers and new sister but it felt like pulling teeth. I remember I was afraid that they would judge me for liking to read or playing with dolls because they were so into sports. I had never been into outdoor activities since my mom was too afraid I would get hurt. I was very sheltered as a kid and when I saw these kids getting thrown into the pool when I wouldn't even venture out past the stairs. I remember thinking they were the most foreign thing in my life. I couldn't even imagine riding a dirt bike or fishing for fun when you could get hurt. Arts and crafts seemed so much more appealing and safe for me. I still to this day do not live that kind of "tomboy life," but I have become a very different person from their influence. Having new siblings who were older than me really helped show me the ropes in life. I had always been the oldest child but now I am right in the middle of five. I know if I had always lived with just my sister and mother, I would not be who I am today. I used to cry whenever someone would pick on me for simple fun. I was too sensitive but thankfully from a little roughening up by my step family, I was just fine with a little fun and games. I am extremely thankful for my experience with a new family because I believe that if I didn't have them, I would have major social issues in school and every day life. Taking criticism is a part of life and without it you cannot improve. Having another family also gave me so many new friends. My big sister became my role model and she talked to me about her problems.  I believe her and her high school struggles helped me decide that helping people made me feel so good about myself. My little brother, only a year younger than me also was my partner in crime. We had so many laughs and luckily we still do. My oldest brother scared me for a while because he was so much bigger than me. He is six years older than me so I bet you could understand how I felt. He used to eat seven cookies at a time and that was just one of his snacks, I was convinced he was a giant or something crazy like that. Eventually I warmed up to him after pelting me with a giant snowball in the face and other disasters. I could not imagine my life without these people. This truly shows that everything happens for a reason, not everything came together immediately but now this is the best family I could have ever asked for. At the beginning of the divorce, I couldn’t imagine not living with my “perfect” family of four in the house but now I wouldn’t know what to do without my big family. This is the story I feel should be told simply because my family made me the person I am today and I want people to know that with troubled times, great things can come out of it.