The Truth Hurts

     Growing up, we face challenges, and people that effect our everyday views. Whether these encounters enhance or destroy our views, they help us form as human beings. “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction” for better, or worse. Past events that occurred in my childhood made me view others, even relatives in a very criticizing, negative way, at least until I am proven otherwise. Granted, this is one of my major downfalls, but let me explain as to why these events had a negative impact on my views.

    When I was little, I faced a difficult childhood. My parents were barely getting by, doing everything they could to provide for me and my family, causing them to stray from me, hardly ever spending quality time with me. Instead, I was forced to be watched and practically raised by my sisters. For their age, they did a very respectable job of raising me, because while I was growing and depending on them, they were also just encountering puberty.

    My oldest sister was 13, and my younger older sister was 11. Now, I don't remember much from the beginning, but I do remember a very vivid, particular time when I was about 5 or 6 when my (younger of the two) sister got very upset with me. My mother came home late one night, and I heard my sister in the next room, crying, even yelling at my mother. Being just a little girl, I put my ear to the door, ease-dropping, just as every kid does. I don't remember all that was said that night, but I do remember I heard my sister scream “she pisses me off”.

    After my mom finished talking to her, she came and talked to me. I repeated my sisters words, not knowing that it had a negative connotation, and in return I had my mouth cleaned out, “whoopings”, and even faced a time-out. I was so mad at my sister for the longest time, because that was the first time I ever faced real trouble with my parents. This started to change my views of people, causing me to think “I can't trust anyone”, and as the years went on, the experiences got worse.

    Friends became deceiving, I began to enter troubling times with my family, and I started understanding the world. My views only worsened after my first negative experience. Granted, I have many positive views and outlooks on people, but due to past experiences, I tend to view the bad until I see the good that is in people. In my opinion, I believe I see others differently because I was just a little girl, and it seemed like people were out to get me. I know they weren't, but you can't change your views from childhood just because you've grown up.

    To this day I encounter so many obstacles that change my views on people. Relationships, friendships, even home life. People change, and things are ever changing, and there is no stopping it. I can only think, people are deceitful, no matter if they are friends, family even adults, and I will not change my views until I am proven otherwise. It is amazing the effect of just one memorable experience during a person's childhood that changes their views, for better or worse.

My Guardian Angel

  Ever since I was a little girl, I have been obsessed with animals of all sorts. Over time, I have grown out of being that obsessed little girl, but time cannot erase the memories that continue to linger in one's mind. By the age of five, I had my very first dog (I have had many before, but not of my own), she was a young blue heeler, known by the name of Angel. She was the most gentle, loving, and comforting dog I have ever encountered. My father on the other hand, thought otherwise, not because she was a bad dog, but because he did not have the best encounters with her. Angel tended to like girls, more so than boys.

   I remember vividly the first time Angel had puppies. Our house is built with a carport, that is also connected as a porch. In the car section, at that time, we had a desk and chair put out due to my family moving things around, getting situated into our new house. Angel felt security under that desk, giving life to many puppies, eight to be exact. My family felt sorry for our little Angel, because of the cold, hard concrete she was laying on in such a confined space. Therefore, my dad purchased some hay to lay down for her to lie on, so she and the puppies could stay warm and comfy. Angel, did not appreciate the company of my father around her newborns, and let out a low, suppressed growl.
 
  I leaned toward her, asking what was wrong when my father said that I needed to stay away from her, and that she might bite me. Being young, and knowing the personality of my dog so well, I leaned in, petting Angel, then moved in closer to pet her puppies. Angel did not growl, she did not tense up in the slightest bit, and she remained calm. In fact, she licked me, as if welcoming me to help her and her new little family. A few moments later, I looked back at my dad with a kind of smirk because I could pet Angel, and mess with her puppies, but he could not.

 

  Not a day goes by that I do not miss that dog. She was my first pet, the best pet I could have ever asked for, and my best friend. She would wait for me every day after school, every day after practice, giving me all the love she could ever attain. I was her world, just as she was mine. I spent almost every moment of every day running around with her, playing until the sun went down. Every memory with her was extremely vivid, but the memory of crawling under the desk with her, to comfort her and her puppies was the best, and somewhat comical memory with my Angel. I still reminisce in those memories, hoping one day she will appear at my gate, waiting for me to get back from school.