Get the groceries, do the laundry, watch your brother. Cinderella, Cinderella… that should be my name. Spending long days doing everyone’s chores and then doing my own. Home schooling myself every day, because your father is too incapable of getting out of bed for anything more than to use the restroom. A childes life stolen by a lack of time. Hardship may seem like an easy thing to overcome, but for some, someone like me, it was like climbing the highest rock wall with no harness, fearing you may fall to your death at any given moment. Being a child of less than twelve and having to take care of four children on your own is an essential growing up moment. My brother, three nieces…six years. Not only was I climbing a rock wall, but I was piggy backing four passengers along the way. Having childhood so close within my grasp yet to far away, too far to grab in the small innocent, unselfish hand of my child self. Constantly surrounded by young, innocent minds…and all I could think about is the complexity of life its self. One day, one year, one life. That’s all I needed to get out. Time might make a difference. Money might make a difference. Love might make a difference. Escaping the hold others had on my life was an excruciating decision. Letting go of my past, after being beaten down and made to be a slave. Where would I go from there? Anywhere…anywhere but back….anywhere but here. Change is a magnificent part of life. Leaving family behind may seem selfish and cruel, but that was the change that had to be made. My story is the story of a small ball of light, exploding into a beautiful universe of self-worth and divine nature. I create my own light now and will never sink back into the deep crevasse of darkness that follows me from my past.