You can’t bare to be with them, but yet you can’t exist without them either. They’re always there when you need them, and they’re always there when you don’t. Who are these people? They’re your family.
Upon entering Junior High, I began realizing the vast amount of change that was taking place. I was in a new building with new teachers, my classes were harder, and my friends were very different. That alone was the hardest thing for me to handle, the friends.
Growing up I had always heard my mom say, “The friends you have in Junior High will impact your life more than you can ever imagine.” I thought I didn’t need to worry about it; I had the best friends ever! We did everything together. We could talk about anything without embarrassing each other, it truly was a real friendship. That was in elementary school. I am not sure why, but kids seem to change once they hit Junior High. They think that they are always right and know exactly what is going on, when in reality they really don’t at all. This is what had happened to my so-called “friends”. I felt nothing was the same anymore. They were cheerleaders, I wasn’t. They were popular, I wasn’t. They had many friends, I didn’t. And the one that bugged me most, they didn’t need me anymore. I felt like a lost cause, deserted for something that wasn’t important.
As I tried to make it through that year of Junior High, through the lies and stories that followed. I soon realized that the only people I trusted all had the same last name, Gray. They were my family. I’m not sure if you know this, but it is very weird for a teenager in Junior High to like hanging out with their family rather than with their friends. My family was my best friend though. They were the only ones that comforted me, they picked me up when I was defeated and hurt. They kept me going when I had lost all sense of hope. Without them, I know for a fact that I would not be the way I am today: happy, fearless, and hopeful.
My heart goes out to all those that don’t have anyone to console in. The ones that don’t have a good family life or the ones that do, but don’t appreciate what they have. Because I know how significant family can be to a young teenager. I have watched a good friend of mine go through some very tough times. Times when no one was there for her and when no one understood what she was going through. If she had just one family member there for her I know she could of made it through those hard times. Instead she’s now lonely and disappointed.
I believe in the importance of family. Already in my short lifetime I have experienced the great need for the ones I love most, my family.