Where I come from

I come from a Central American country
Gunshots in the neighborhood was normal to hear
To young too even crawl my family and I made a journey to the states
A family of four living on a full size bed in a basement as their first home
Growing up hearing the words “what did she say” in Spanish
Frozen food started to become a regular thing
My older sister started to feel like my guardian
Parents that I only saw three hours a day except for on Sundays
Sundays felt like the peak of my week
My thoughts fluttered the idea of being homeless
At least we would all be together and work hours would not separate us
As work hours got shorter father and daughter bonding became a thing
Every Saturday was a movie day, Reston town center the place to go
Hearing the words “we are moving to our own house’
Felt like Christmas morning to my ears
Although I never grew up celebrating Christmas
The house was not the white picket fence you would imagine
Father and daughter bonding started to slowly fade away
Hearing about others extended family felt strange to me
For me all I knew my family was only my mom, dad, and older sister 
Being home alone with my sister started to feel like a normal thing again
Now that I’m older has changed, I just learned to adapt
But this time I don’t have my sister their by my side
Lack of money has always been a problem
As I got older I understood why my dad would come home in a terrible mood
I would not even get a chance to say goodnight when he was already outside smoking
Smoking calmed him down, I hate the smell of cigarettes
Growing up my mom was never the type to hold me close and cuddle me as a toddler
As she would say she was not raised like
As a teenage girl I don’t have the mother daughter connection other girls do with their moms
Not that I hold any remorse to her it’s just that we never connected to bond in a relationship ‘
I see her more as she’s my mom and I have to respect her
But I have no complaints as that was the way I was raised