Justin Ellis
Professor Laura Miller
English 104
3 October 2013
Growing Up Too Soon I remember hearing the statement “Life ain’t been no crystal ball,” used quite often. Hearing this statement rendered at such a tender age, I didn’t quite understand what it meant. Now that I am older and wiser, I too can say this. Growing up was not always easy. Although I was young and didn’t really understand my mother’s tears, I quickly grew up and became a man before I actually knew how. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was sitting in the car with my mother one day at Northpark Mall waiting on my brother to come back to the car, when I was struck with what seemed like the end of the world. My mother said to me, “What if we had to move?” As an eager adolescent would say, I said that’s fine. Little did I know that it was by force and not choice. My mother told me that our home was in foreclosure. At that instance, my heart dropped. How could this be? Where will we go? These were questions that began to fill my mind. Watching my mother work and take care of home is something that I became used to. She worked to provide for us until she was in a car accident that put her down for a while. I wondered how we got so behind in such a short time. Not being old enough to work yet, I helplessly watched my mother lie there crying, not knowing why. Once I turned sixteen, I began working trying to help my mother out with bills and to attempt to save our home. Although my attempt was honest and helpful, it was years too late. After losing our home, it turned out that we were forced to