The Day My Life Changed

Tiffany Smith

Katherine Woods

English 101 35Z3

June 19, 2016

                                        The Day My Life Changed

Looking back now, I believe the one thing that has changed my life the most would be the day my mom passed away. The night prior, I went to sleep just like any other night. When I woke on July 19, 2005, my brother had called several times. After finally calling him back, he told me that my mom had passed away. I was devastated. My mom and I were close. She was only 37 years old at the time. We had no warning signs or anything to think that something like this could ever happen.  Everyone deals with death in their own ways, some better than others. Going through the death of my mother not only affected me emotionally but also mentally.

When I was only 2 years old, my parents got a divorce. My brother and I had to live with our father. I did not like living with my father. Not that he was mean or anything I just always wanted my mom, probably because she was not around much.

 Mom was not always perfect; in fact, I grow up mostly without her. She was not around except every now and then. My mom mostly went from house to house, was into different drugs and, in my opinion, did not want to be bothered with having two young children around. She always had some kind of reason for not being able to come get my brother and me for her weekends. When she actually picked us up, we always had good times with her. She would take us places like to the movies or out to eat. I always enjoyed my time with her. When I would have to return home, I always missed her. Not having her around growing up I feel was a disadvantage. I did not get to do things with my mom that normal daughters get to do. She never taught me how to do makeup or about boys. I was not able to tell her my secrets.  

Eventually, when I turned 15, my mom and I became close and once I got my license at 16, I spent as much of my time with my mom as I could. On my days off or after school, I would drive over to her house. My mom did not really care what I did. Moreover, since my dad was strict on me, going to my mom’s was my outlet. I could actually be a teen and hang with friends. My friends all thought my mom was the cool mom. My would buy my friends and me liquor and cigarettes and would let me go see boys I liked and let them spend the nights with me.  

A little after I turned 16, I got pregnant with my oldest daughter. I was scared. I knew my dad would be disappointed in me. I did not know how to tell him or my mom either. I honestly kept my pregnancy a secret. On January 25, 2004 I finally told my dad that I was pregnant, and I was not sure when I was due since I did not tell anyone. Only 4 days later, I had Anna.  

My mom totally changed from how she was with me growing up. Something in Anna just made my mom a different person; she was always happy and smiling. She spent all her time with her and spoiled my daughter.  After I gave birth to my daughter, I moved in with my mom.

 Looking back now, it was not what was best for my newborn daughter or me. I ended up dropping out of high school. I cannot even remember why I did now; I only needed three more credits to graduate. I was still working at Burger King but also wanted to better myself. I wanted a better paying job, so my grandma helped me get into CNA classes through her work. They paid for my classes and paid me while I was in the class too.  Although I did get my CNA certification and was working, I spent a lot of time with my mom.  She got me into taking pills and drinking.  When I did not have my daughter and was off work, I spent most of my time getting her from different bars.

        At 18, I started working at North Park Nursing center. About a year after I started there, I met Daniel, the father of my younger two children. I was very happy.  Shortly after meeting him, I became pregnant again with my second daughter. At the time, I was still living with my mom but spending a lot of time with him. Although I was very happy in my life at the time, I had been taking pills for so long I could not stop taking them.  We got married on July 14, 2005.

One thing I remember most is the day of my wedding my mom telling me not to get married. She just kept telling me it was the biggest mistake I would make. I was very upset about it. On my day that should have been one of the happiest days of my life, she wanted to ruin it. Therefore, I decided not to talk to her. I was going to show her that she hurt me. After 3 days of not speaking to her, I could not take it any longer. I planned to call her but was so tired from working a 16-hour shift and getting off at 11pm that I decided to wait until the morning.  On July 19, 2005, my mom passed away.