October 15, 2012, my entire world was shaken up. As a 7-year-old little girl the day started normal, I enjoyed my morning car rides to school with my mom and grandmother. Around noon, I was called to the principal’s office and greeted by my grandmother and my aunt. They both had the look of devastation on their face. They had been crying, they appeared angry. I was taken into the principal office with my grandmother, aunt, and school guidance counselor. It was then that they told me the devastating news that my mother had been murdered in our home. My seven-year-old brain was trying to process this information.
My entire earth had been shattered. I was my mother’s only daughter, she was my entire world, my best friend. What would I do without her? It was later that day that I found out that my father was the person that murdered my mom.
And just like that I lost both of my parents in the same day. My life changed instantly in the blink of an eye. My grandmother had to adjust to this new life where she had not only witnessed the murder of her daughter, but she was left to raise her five children. My mother was a young and vibrant 27-year-old woman with five children. She always taught us how important it was to go to college to get an education, that education was the key to success. When my mother passed away, she didn’t have life insurance. My siblings and myself had to move in with my grandmother who was on a fixed income. Four years after my mother passed away, my grandmother would pass away in her sleep while I slept in the bed next to her. For the second time, my life was shattered.
Being that my mom didn’t have life insurance and there was no money saved and there was no money for college funds, or to help pay bills. If my mom had a life insurance policy, then my grandmother could have placed money aside for my college education. I knew that if I wanted to go to college, I would have to work to save money and take out loans to pay for my college education.
I have worked hard all my junior and senior year of high school to have money for my college education and to help my siblings out. I have been saving my paychecks so that my education is not a burden on my family. My goal is to attend TSU and major in Biology and purse a career in medicine. I wish I could have saved my mother’s life. I want to focus on a career as an Obstetrician and Gynecologist. Although a precious life was taken from me, I want to be a blessing to help bring a life into the world. Although I know that is not always possible, but to be able to save just one life will be a blessing to another.