Your parents- your father and I- we are the reason you are here. My parents weren’t. My birth mother bore me and in doing so she created a new life. A life that she held dominion over for only a brief moment. A life that she neither understood, nor cared to understand. My parents are the ones who didn’t make me, but rather allowed me to make myself. They didn’t inhibit me. They raised me the only way they knew how with the best of intentions, which is a good start. It’s simple and it’s true.
What is a parent’s role? I know I’ve struggled to figure that out as I raised you and your brothers. I gave you all as many opportunities as I could and I hope it has made all the difference. There are some people that can never be parents, but nevertheless conceive a child. That was my birth mother- Chris. She was too young- fifteen or sixteen at most- when she had me. She was younger than you are now. Imagine that. I couldn’t.
If I had remained with her, you would never have been born. If I had remained with her, I’m sure the amount of turmoil she created would have overcome me by now. I would not be in a place of such security and comfort. She was a pagan, a smoker, and she always wore a frown that plastered itself onto her face like a mask of aged cement. My most vivid memory of her was when she used to stand on the back porch of our first house in San Antonio looking out to the low trees and the tiny puffs of clouds in the mostly blue Texas sky. Her eyes seemed to hang like
Annoyed at this, I turned once again and lay on my back. I took a deep
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was in a park, bright and sunny out , I was feeling every kind of emotion there was to feel. I didn’t know what to expect or how I was going to react. My mom was right next to me looking calm as ever. How did she do it? Suddenly, I see a car pull up and a taller, muscular man steps out. That’s the very first time I met my biological dad.
The predicament I am in right now is a blessing, considering the trials I have dealt with in the past. Growing up in inner-city Jacksonville propelled me into the man I am becoming today. Some of the circumstances that many inner-city adolescent youth deal with growing up, such as single-parent households, and inadequate financial stability; automatically dubbed me as a product of my environment. Paving a way for my family is what motivated me the most, and like many teenagers, I felt the task could be strictly achieved by athletics. I had a strong aspiration of playing professional sports, and had varying degrees of success in basketball, and football. Honestly, I was never considered the greatest by my peers, but it was hard to debate my work ethic. Seeing my mother work rigorously day in and day out inspired me. She encouraged me and imparted her knowledge on life’s challenges towards me.
Since I was a little girl I have always witnessed the kind of love my parents had for each other. I always noticed that in comparison with my friend’s parents as a couple they were less affectionate with one and other. As the years went by I could observe how that feeling of love between my parents became less and less stronger. At present they are going through a divorce, and as the only child of the relationship I have to suffer what comes with being in the middle of them. Even though I have seen the process in which the love of my parents went deteriorating, I still cannot understand how two people who swore before God to love each other until the end of their lives could no longer love each other.
After moving a countless amount of times, my home does not have a roof and windows. My home has become my biggest motivator- my father. I am one of the few, lucky people to be born into and privileged with such a small, but loving family. Not only has my father provided me with a life I can thrive in, the story of his life in China is what gives me the confidence to pursue a career in the medical field. At his high school, he studied every day for more than nine hours and became the top student, despite the fact that his future in education seemed bleak because of the Cultural Revolution. Getting a higher education was his dream, yet illegal. After succeeding in high school, he was forced by the government to attend a labor camp, where he
Growing up I was not the luckiest person. My parents created me to fix their relationship, that did not work out of course. So obviously they got a divorce, but they got a divorce three days before my second birthday.
My father is profoundly wise in the topic of athletics. He knows more ways to get stronger, faster, or even more flexible than anyone I have ever encountered. Putting this knowledge with my determination, we made a rigorous workout plan that we would do at home every single night. One note to make, is that my dad was not forcing me to do these workouts in any way. He asked me if I still wanted soccer to be as exhilarating as it was when I was younger, then I needed to put the time in to my craft every day. Soccer is in my blood, and I was not ready to give it up yet. The workouts were composed of mile runs on the treadmill, medicine ball exercises, and leg strengthening drills. After the preliminary week of this aspiring effort to to achieve
My story begins when I was in the second grade. Times were good, and I was enjoying my childhood. On a certain Sunday I and my mom attended church, as we did on other Sunday’s. This time though my dad decided not to come with us because he said he was tired. So we were off on our own doing our regular Sunday activities.
“Ya son las Cinco y media,” is what my dad would say to me everyday during summer. We would go up to Redlands to this avocado groove to pick avocados. Under the big, tall, leafy trees we would work until our bodies couldn't take it anymore and needed a break. We would work under the hot scorching sun, our faces dripping in sweat until 3:30. I would always get home tired knowing the same thing was waiting for me the next day.
My father was a lifeguard, but not in my lifetime, so maybe loving the ocean was in our blood. As children we grew up in Brooklyn and we would go to Riis Park for our day at the beach. One very distinct memory is of my father as he stood waist deep in the ocean with my brother and sister; the waves periodically lifted and dropped them in the water at his side. Waist deep for my father meant it was well over my head so I remained a safe distance (or so I thought) behind them. Suddenly, a wave appeared and and before I could turn and rush to the shoreline the ocean attacked. I found myself in a world of foam, pockets of air allowed me to breathe as I was tossed about like
"Never forget the past…because it may haunt you forever. Regret all the bad things…cherish the good things. Look ahead always…but don't let the bad things from the past get in your mind." As a young child, there were so many incidents in my life that made me become the person I am today. There were rough times as well as good times. If I were to tell you all of them, I would remember half of them. I think some of my incidents really had some impact, and some were just simple ways of life. To tell you the truth, the incident that had the most impact on me has to be when my real father left me at the age of three. I never knew my father. I mean being a baby, you really have no experience or recognition of somebody else.
One event that defined a part of my life that involved literacy was when I had to write a
All of the counselors started to clap and cheer for him. As Joey got up I could see his cheeks turn red like he truly felt like he belonged. He won the dance competition and that night the other counselors and I took him out for dinner. For dessert we took him to get ice cream and after that we went to the movies. During the movie it got boring
I believe my life has been affected in many ways and that it all starts with my grandparents. My grandmother Kay had her first relationship with a man named Edward Lee James and within that relationship she had her first child, my aunt, Tammy. Shortly after Tammy was born my grandmother ended that relationship and started dating another man named Bill Sweitzer. Within her relationship with Bill she had two children. My uncle William (Bill) and my father Benjamin (Ben). After a few years of being in that relationship my grandmother left Bill and eventually found her true love, my grandpa, Chuck Arndt. They fell in love and got married in 1974. Chuck soon adopted both my father and my uncle Bill giving them their last name of Arndt. Shortly after they were married my grandmother Kay became pregnant with her last child, my uncle, Chucky.
I was adopted. I never knew my real mother; rather, I knew her at one time but I left her side when I was too little to be able to remember. I loved my adopted family though. They were so kind to me. I ate well, I lived in a warm and comfortable house, and I got to stay up pretty late.