Life With a Step-Mom

When you think of step-moms, you think of Cinderella and her evil step-mom and evil step-sisters. The evil step-mom makes her do a ton of work and won't let her go out and do things. Yeah, that's what I thought for a while.

My biological parents divorced when I was about four years old. I didn't understand why I had to switch back and forth from houses every few days, but all I knew was that I missed one parent while I was at the other parent's house.

Surprisingly, it's easy to remember the time where my dad's roommate's daughter got a rock stuck up her noise. There was one time where I was at my grandparents' house because my mom lived with them and my grandpa was trying to kill a mouse with a shot gun. I don't think he ever found it.

When I was five, my dad met Leah. I met her around September of 2001 at Baja Fresh in San Ramon. She was smiling and seemed really excited to meet me. I've always been awkward and shy, but I'm pretty sure I warmed up to her.

The second time I saw her, I went to her dance show. She was dancing hula and Tahitian at her studio. I also met my future step-brother that night and he laughed when I told him my favorite Gameboy game was WWW Smackdown. After that night, I told my dad I wanted to take hula and I was signed up months later.

My mother moved to Pennsylvania right around October, maybe November. I'm most certain of that. My grandparents then moved to Virginia right after my mother moved across the country. My dad and I moved into Leah's apartment in Hayward. 

This is definitely around the time where I thought my step-mom was evil. I was little and I wasn't used to the big change. Having new authority around the house seemed to upset me. It's funny to think about now.

And of course, right around January 2002, we moved into a small house in Castro Valley a block away from . I finished kindergarten at Neil Armstrong Elementary and started first grade at Proctor. I was still convinced my step-mom was evil and I was pretty mean to her, but I knew I loved her deep down inside.

Years passed by of good memories and lessons learned by trial and error and I was soon in fifth grade. Leah and my dad started to fight and they decided to split up. They never told me why and still won't to this day. After Leah told me while we were in the car, I cried and I cried for days. By this time, I was old enough to understand what divorces and break ups were. Although I'm not sure, I think they talked to a councelor because they never split up.

I was lucky until 2011. The family suddenly seemed distant and I was home alone up to hours at a time. On top of that, I lost my two best friends that year. One of them finally forgave me (thank you, Veronica) and my boyfriend at the time thought I was being dramatic, which later he apologized for (he's still a really good friend of mine).

Finally on June 11, 2011, after a day of hanging out with my friends, my dad picked me up at my best friend's house. His exact words were "Leah and I broke up."

Gosh. I really don't know what happened after that. Days just seemed to go in hyperspeed. My step-mom raised me for ten years and I just felt depressed that it ended.

The break up had a huge impact on my life. Both my dad and Leah overreacted a ton. Things happened that shouldn't have and because they did, I'm not allowed to see my step-mom. I moved in with my grandparents and lived with them half of sophomore year.

I moved back in with my dad on January 2, 2012. It was great. The new year to start off fresh. I'm very lucky and happy that I'm living with him, but there isn't one day where I don't think of my step-mom and my extended family. I love them with all of my heart.

I guess going through all of this has made me realize that you have to be happy with what you have. People don't realize what they have until they lose it.