Bifurcation Points.
Our last family reunion on 2012.
One major bifurcation point in my life was when my parents got divorced; it changed a lot in my life. They got a divorce the summer after my sixth grade year. After the divorce, my mom and I moved to Washington while my dad stayed in Tennessee. The divorce caused financial hardship on both my mom and dad, as well as emotional distress for not only my mother and I, but also my mom's family. As an eleven year old girl, I had to learn about love and hate. I got to watch my mom's family grow closer while my whole world seemed to be falling apart. Having my mother as a role model, I had learned at a very young age to keep my emotions hidden from others. After my parents divorce, I still tried to keep it all in. A couple years later, though, the cat I had gotten when I was just four years old died, and I couldn't hold it in anymore. All the pain and feelings of loss came out as I spiraled into a depression. My mom sent me to a therapist where I was able to talk through everything, and I discovered a lot about myself that I had kept hidden all those years. Through this whole process, I was able to figure out who I was and I learned to embrace that to make myself happier.
Caitlin and Sawyer.
Another fairly important bifurcation point in my life was during my sophomore year of high school when my little brother Sawyer was born, and then again last year when my sister Caitlin was born. Sawyer and Caitlin are my only siblings, and they are quite a bit younger than me. They instantly became an enormous part of my life, though. With their birth, I knew I had to be a better person. I wanted to give them somebody to look up to and somebody they could trust. As soon as I found out that my step-mom would be having a little boy, I started to change. I worked harder in school, tried my best to be responsible in all areas of my life, and pushed myself at track practice. I wanted to be somebody that my siblings wanted to be like, somebody that could be a good influence on them. They are constantly a force for me to keep bettering myself.