My Life

Nowadays, kids are beginning to take for granted the luxury of having parents. They are so used to the pre-notion that every kid should have parents that they forget that some of them actually don’t have them. I have heard and seen kids get mad at their parents for not letting them do something, or not giving them something they want. They say things like “I wish you were dead” or “I hate you”. I heard one of my close friend say that recently. His mom didn’t let him go to a party because she thought it was going to be dangerous and he flat out told her in her face “I wish you were dead, I hate you.”

When he told me what happened I actually got a little upset and ill explain why. Back in California, I did not live with my mom or dad. Both of my parents live in Nigeria so I had to live with my grandparents. My parents normally visit once a year for about a month and then head back home. But recently, I have not been able to see my father for a while now. For three years to be exact. The Nigerian Embassy rejected his visa because they fear that when people leave they won’t want to come back, so there was no way for him to come to America. My mother just recently got her visa rejected as well.

. People take for granted what they have without even realizing it. I have always had a pretty bad relationship with my grandparents. I never really liked the way they treated my brother and I. So I have always dreaded living with them. I always wanted to leave the house and never be home. It was really lonely for my brother and I for a while. We only had each other so because of that we were able to build a strong bond. I would always rather be with my friends that be at home and my grandparents would never understand why.

 They would always get mad at me because I would come home late because I was with my friends all day. They never understood it was because I didn’t like to be home and I didn’t like to be around them. This made it hard for us because my parents rarely visit because of the visa problem. At a certain point I started to realize that i was doing the same thing that I always dreaded other kids do, and that is taking advantage of your parents regardless if they are your grandparents. When I realized that I started to appreciate them more and life  became more bearable with them. 

They started to treat my brother and I better. My mother always knew how I felt about my grandparents. She always told me to just bear through it that I would soon be going off to college and I wouldn’t have to deal with them again. That was honestly what helped me. Even though my relationship with my grandparents isn’t that great, I still treat them with respect and let them know that they are appreciated. That is how every child should be. Regardless if they like their parents or not. You do not need to like someone to respect and appreciate them, and that is the key. The whole point of this speech is to get people to know that having parents is a luxury. Its a luxury that we should appreciate and It’s a luxury that we should not take for granted because, God forbid, you may never see your parents again.