If my mom had had life insurance when she was killed in a car accident, it would have undoubtedly changed my life. My family has always been poor, so the day I turned fifteen in September of my sophomore year, I had to get a job and start bringing in money for the household. I helped pay bills, buy groceries, and purchase anything else we needed. April 27, 2021, was the day my mom died. My need to work and support the family never changed. If she had life insurance when she died, my situation would be drastically different.
I wouldn’t have to worry about working forty hours a week to care for my family while completing scholarships and maintaining decent grades. I might have even been able to attend college without having to stress about how it’s being paid for. Attending college has always been my plan, but I would have liked to do it all at one school, unfortunately, due to my mom not having life insurance and my family’s poverty. Instead, I’m starting at a community college for my first two years and will be further away from my friends and family. By attending college, I hope to give my future family a safe place to live without wondering where they’ll sleep and where their next meal will come from, unlike what I experienced. Believe it or not, due to poor decisions made by my mother (bad choices in men, drug use, quitting jobs, etc.) I have been homeless; I’ve slept in tents and gone from place to place, looking for somewhere to sleep. I have knocked on doors, asking people if they had any food we could eat.
At one point, my siblings and I were placed in foster care, and right after my mom regained custody of us, she was killed. My step-grandma took us in, and I currently live with her, three disabled uncles, and four half-siblings. My grandma and I are the only forms of income in the house, so we both have to work forty hours a week to make ends meet. In the past two years we’ve lived with my grandma she has had two heart attacks and stents placed in her heart. Life insurance would have given my grandma something to work with and would have lessened the strain put on her.
Despite all the hardships I’ve experienced, I continue to push forward. I’m determined to give my future family the best life possible. Due to my circumstances, I know how important life insurance is. So, as I think about starting my own family, I am determined to have life insurance because I don’t want them to go through what I have experienced.