My parents’ divorce made me realize I do not need to be dependent on someone else to be strong and achieve my goals. It was tough on me being only five years old and standing underneath my parents as they got into violent fights. I would cry and even when they weren’t fighting I was scared of the thought that it might happen again. If it was not for my older sisters I would not be as strong as I am today. My sisters are both older than me and they came from my father’s first marriage.

They would take me into their room and hold me and sing to me to keep me calm. My father was an alcoholic, which is where his violence stemmed from. He physically and verbally abused me, my two sisters, and especially my mother. My father was never mean to my brother, and we never understood why he abused only us. We thought perhaps he might have a mental issue caused by the way he grew up. My dad grew up in Cuba with his mother who was a very unstable person. We believe that she abused my dad. That could be the reason he abused us. My mom tried everything in her power to get us away from him, even if it meant just taking my brother and me to my grandmother’s house. She knew that if she went with us, he would follow.

I was scared when my dad and mom would fight because I never knew what was going to happen or when it would happen. It caused me to develop severe anxiety, which still has an affect on me today. I could not stand seeing everyone in my house upset especially my mom. I saw how upset my mom was all the time because of my dad and all I wanted to do was help her or make him stop having such a horrific impact on my family.

It made me more of a tough person later on in my life because I decided to not ever let myself be subjected to this type of violence ever again. I will not stand for violence whether it be physical or verbal. I will not let my family or friends or even people I am not close to go through this because no one deserves it. I hope that the people who have been subject to violence become strong and try to fight through the anxiety or other psychological problems the violence has caused. They need to remember that they are not just a victim, that they are a strong, independent, beautiful person. If I had not realized that, there is no telling where I would be today. Right after the divorce was over, my mom tried to keep my mind busy by putting me in gymnastics and cheer leading. A few years later I decided to quit because I realized I did not need gymnastics and cheer leading to be strong; I was strong on my own. Now I am even more confident, and independent. I am looking forward to going off to college and becoming a psychologist so I can help the kids, teens, and even adults who went through the abuse that my family and I did.