I never have understood what forgiveness truly meant; when I felt treated in a negative way, I held a grudge, I left the negativity get to me, and lastly, I am the one left with the pain, suffering from the negative side of life.

When I was seven years old, I moved with my father to Plaquemine; at the time, it was such a warm, happy feeling to move with him, until just about two years ago. Growing up was definitely not the easiest for me; throughout my life, my dad was not always there; his busy work schedule, the massive amount of hours he worked, and how many times he would have to go out of town for a couple of days would not allow for him to be home with me. I have been raising myself for the past five to six years and I am more than positive I have done a great job doing so; I do not cause trouble, I do not do drugs nor drink alcohol as most of the teenagers now in days do, and have never given my dad a reason to punish me.

About two years ago, my dad and I haven’t been getting along as we should. The constant arguments, him putting his job first and me last, him letting my step-mom have a say so on my discipline, all ended up making our relationship even worse. My step-mom, being the over-dramatic, ignorant, immature, annoying, obnoxious, individual she is, never fails to give nothing but the negative side of certain matters which leads to her and my dad to argue; then I have to get involved and put my two-sense in about her.

It eventually got too bad for me to handle, which lead me to move to Texas with my mom. It was not only the relationship my dad and I had that made me want to move, but also the frequent “do you have a mom? Why don’t you talk to her? Do you like your mom? How come you never talk about your mom? What made you move away from her? Do you hate her?” questions which made me miss my mom even more. I eventually realized how much I missed living here in Plaquemine, which made me want to move back. My dad has never wanted anything but the best for me no matter what and always has.

At the end of the day, holding grudges towards others not only gives a negative vibe, but also makes the individual holding a grudge seem like an all around negative person. Forgiving my dad for always working and never making time for me, his only son only helped out relationship; as I’ve said before, he not only wants the best for me, but also wants to provide the best for me. Plaquemine is the best place for me to be, and there will never be a time again, where I would want to live anywhere else but here.