Where to begin? My life has been pretty easy so far. I have loving parents, a caring family, a comfortable life never having to worry about where to find my next meal or a place to sleep. I was born in the town of Des Moines, Iowa to a single mother, single because she had left my biological father before she became aware of my existence. We left Iowa before I could form my first memory of the town I lived in for two years. It was here to Saint George we flew, and where we now call home. My grandparents welcomed us in with not so open arms, and took care of me while my mother battled meningitis and later on while she was working to support us. It was in their house where I have my first memories, memories which include chasing our dog Nitnoy around the house, playing with my first friend and next door neighbor Amanda. These memories also include falling down the stairs and my grandma jokingly calling me Humpty Dumpty. My mom and I shared a room downstairs in the basement, next to my Uncle Elliot, my Aunt Amie and Uncle Justin as well as my grandparents all had their rooms upstairs. The backyard was massive, in the summer my grandma would set up an inflatable swimming pool out there for me to play in and I’d go pick the grapes that grew on the vines along the fence. It was an easy life and I quite enjoyed it.

Life for me changed when I was about three or so and my mom met the man I call “Dad”. He soon moved down to St. George to work at Jones Paint and Glass here in town. They got married in March of 1999 and we all moved into the same house together. It was a small apartment over by Sunset and the three of us called it home for about a year, then we bought our very first house. It was a townhome in the Village townhomes off of Sunland Drive, a small two bedroom one and a half bathroom place but it was home. I lived there from the age of four to the age of thirteen, and most of my memories are associated with that house. I’d play in the various grassy fields with the local kids, (none of whom seemed to stay for very long), painting my room for the arrival of my new baby brother, many nights I went without sleep because my brother woke up crying, walking with my friends to the Honolulu Grill in the heat of summer to get a cool refreshing snow cone. Some of the memories aren’t so nice, like the ones of my parents fighting. I remember listening to my mom screaming at the top of her lungs and my dad’s quiet voice trying to calm her, most of the time this worked but other times it would end with her storming out. In seventh grade, my dad had an affair with who I thought was a close friend of my mom’s, that whole spring break is blurred together with tears and parents screaming. Thankfully my parents worked everything out and it seemed as if life would return to normal, but I was wrong.

In December of 2008, we lost our house and by January of 2009 we had relocated to the other side of town. The move took its toll on me and the relationship with my mom deteriorated because I blamed her for losing my childhood home. I then started getting severely bullied and the school system didn’t do anything for me, which led to me breaking down and threatening to slit my wrists. My parents were at a loss and they didn’t know how to handle it, they constantly watched me and eventually things calmed down. In April of 2009, I was accepted into High School. This for me was a dream come true and the experiences I went through at that school, from the “tightness” of the student body, to the whacky fanatics of day to day life there totally captivated me and I loved every minute that I spent there. Imagine my dismay when my parents announced that they couldn’t take the long drives getting me to and from school and were pulling me out to put me into public school. I cried and cried for days, which didn’t help my case. When I finally started going, it really wasn’t that bad and looking back on it I laugh at myself for being so foolish. If I hadn’t switched schools, I would never have met Ashley, who I am proud to call my best friend. I wouldn’t have gotten involved with theater either, because at Tuacahn the theater program is so cut-throat, I felt that I stood a better chance majoring in music, so that’s what I did. My high school has given me so many experiences that I probably wouldn’t have gotten at Tuacahn and to list them all would take too long. When graduation comes in May, I’m certainly glad to be able to call myself a high School graduate.

I’m almost done, I promise. I would like to wrap this Theme for AP Lit up by remembering two people who have passed on from my life. The first one would be my Uncle Paul, who passed away in June of 2011. Though I didn’t know him very well or for too long (I’d only started talking to him in 2010), he made an outstanding impact on my life. Watching him die was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. He was so strong through everything he went through and it killed me to see him deteriorate to the point where he couldn’t even talk. He went from being able to go outside in his wheel chair to not being able to talk within a matter of four days. We came down to see him on a Thursday and he passed the following Monday. The next person is my Great Grandma. She passed in April and boy was she a fighter. We were all expecting her to pass over spring break but she held on for close to twenty days before finally letting go. She was the glue that held my mom’s side of the family together and when she died I was afraid that we wouldn’t be as close, my fears turned out to be nothing to worry about because she brought us all together which is how she always wanted us to be. Live life to the fullest and don’t regret anything, because one day you can be here and the next, well you’ll be gone.