Childhood
I grew up in a three bedroom apartment with five other children and one guardian. I called her grandmom. She was a no nonsense kind of woman. When she spoke you listened, stay out of grow folks business, and when it came to school we weren't allowed to bring home anything less then A's and B's.
The apartment was an inner city development for those who had little to no income better known as the "hood or the projects." The walls were concrete and so were the floors just colder. My two brothers and cousin shared a bedroom down stairs and I shared a bedroom with two other cousins upstairs. We had our days where we would laugh and fight with each other but my older cousins never let anyone bother us. They would tell my brothers and I to fight and not be afraid but it wasn't that easy when your parents didn't show you how to defend yourself physically or emotionally.
As for my parents, they were absent for most of the early years because of their own past experiences. When one of them was stable enough my brothers and I left Philly and it was a back and fourth roller coaster up until our teenage years. This was around the time when I said enough was enough and I broke away from my family. I had finally found my confidence. Today I keep in contact with my family just to let them know that I'm still living and to let them know that I love them which is what I'm suppose to do.
Years ago, I realized that I couldn't choose the family that I was born into but I can choose a different path in life and that's exactly what I did at an early age. I will never be bitter or angry about my past because it has made me a better wife, a high school graduate, a college graduate, and a now a businesswoman.
Until I faced my past, I wasn't useful to anyone let alone myself and feeling stuck or lost is not something anyone should go through alone.
So, to the readers that need inspiration Where is UR confidence?