Who am I? Ordinarily, if one were asked who they are, their reply would simply be their name. One doesn’t often think of themselves in terms of what significant factors in their life contributed to the person they have become. While in actuality this is a question we should consider more readily. Ask yourself, what significant factors have contributed to you as a person? Family, school, religion, race, and residence are several factors that can influence the person you become. This is a story concerning a young woman who’s a fulltime student, devoted fiancé, and loving mother of two. It’s her story, her life and the events that lead up to and influenced her to become the person she is today.
Our story begins in the maternity ward of St. Luke’s Memorial hospital located in the small town of New Hartford, New York. There, after a long exhausting labor, a woman finally gives birth to her newborn baby girl. Who she’ll be or what she’ll become no one knew. All that was and could be known at this time was her name, Melissa.
A larger part of Melissa’s early childhood, was spent moving from one house to the next. Boxes were often left packed and untouched seeing as they would probably have to move again. However, Other than the frequent moving Melissa led a very typical childhood. She spent a lot time with her older brothers and sisters, three in all: Jon, Kim, and Laura, she enjoyed having fun with her friends and most of all she just liked spending time together as a family. It wasn’t until Melissa was the age of nine, that the abrupt departure of her mother would change her entire life. So much she didn’t understand and wouldn’t come to understand until much later.
To be closer to her mother’s new home, Melissa’s father had taken a job offer in New Jersey. So by the end of her fifth school year Melissa found herself saying goodbye to her friends and goodbye to the only town she could remember. It was very difficult adjusting at first. Her mother leaving and the move, not only to a new town but a different state, were all too overwhelming. In her new school she felt lost in a sea of unfamiliar faces. At home she felt confused and depressed. What had happened? Why did it happen? Was it something I did? All these questions filled her head but unfortunately
