“Dont do the mistake I did, enjoy your life you're just beginning”

I was sitting at the table when my mom  Maritza was giving me a lesson about life,  she started off by telling me when she lived in mexico she ran away from home with my dad. A couple of months later she found out she was pregnant, she was only 16 at the time. My mom married and alcoholic/drug addict. When my mom first meet my dad she said that he was a very sweet man and then he started doing bad things. Anger issues started to kick in and soon he was starting to abusing  of my mom.

“when I had you, I only had help from your grandma” says my mom tearing up. My mom had no idea what it was like being a mother at such an early age, she needed help from someone and the only person that was there was my grandma. “I had to gain trust from your aunts because they didn't like me” My grandma would help my mom in every way possible. My mom also brought up how she couldn't handle my dad anymore so she move in with my grandma, He was a very stubborn man he wouldn't care for us, or give us money for food. Instead he would waste it on alcohol or drugs. My grandma was the one who would cook for me and my mom. She Was only 16 and she already had a lot of responsibility.

“ill tell you something that I think you need to know” says mom crying. “It started off by us arguing as your dad grabbed a knife and handed one to me too, I put the knife down and told him this isn't worth it you dissapoint me” That same day my mom had left him and we started packing up our stuff to live with my grandma.

As soon as we got to grandmas house, my mom had told her what had happen with my dad. My grandma was tearing up because his own son had treated us like, that infront of his own daughter. I was small I didn't know what was happening at the time. My mom went to go look for a job because she doesn't like to rely on people. She found a job at a candy store in mexico. “ I was happy that I found a job and could get you anything that you wanted”.

Couple of years passed and my mom decided to come to Illinois where her mom and my other family where. We had left my dad and my other family back in Michoacan (mexico) I was only 3 years old when I came here to Illinois. I found out my  mom was expecting a baby girl and she named it Irlanda. Things didn't work out between my sisters dad and my mom . Soon my mom had moved in with my other grandma, I call her “tita”. We have moved into in apartment in Mundelein, IL. My mom came here for a better future for both of us and a better life. I didn't really understand why she did all this, but now that I am older I understand how hard it was for my mom to be a mom and to  have so much responsibility at such a young age.

There was about 5 or 6 of us in the apartment, we are a pretty big family. My uncle named Miguel Aviles used to work in constructing houses and putting them up for sale. He was building a house in Round Lake IL. They decided to move out of the apartment to make more space for everyone and to be more comfortable and move into the house that my uncle was building in Round Lake. The house was pretty big it had two floors and four rooms. Everyone had their own room. It was only my mom, my sister and I. My mom soon got a job at a dry cleaners along with my other aunt Yeni that worked there. My mom meet a woman named Olga, they became really good friends. Olga had introduced my mom with someone named Ivan Espinosa . Ivan lived with olga and he also had came from mexico. They had hung out and gotten to meet each other more. After a while  my mom and Ivan decided to get together. A few months later my mom introduced us to him. Then,he moved in with us in Round Lake and my mom had a baby girl and boy named Natalie and luis Espinosa. They decided to move back to mundelein and they bought a house which we are currently living in.

I respect my mom a lot, she's always been there for me. She's a very strong, hard working women and she's been through a lot just to live better and have a better future for her children. We can get Along like sisters sometimes, she's my hero. I really look up to her and try being a good person like she has taught me.

“Dont do the mistake I did enjoy your life you're just beginning”