Tía (Survivor Book 1)

Some children do not have a recollection of their first memory. I tend to call this life stage “When the lights turned on.” I remember my mother and father’s first fight as my stepsibling tried to separate them. I remember feeling confused, scared, and unsafe. I stood frozen in place, tears falling from my face, and my mother pushed me out of the way, saying, “Move, you, little dumb mother fucker.” At this moment, I knew this life wasn’t for me. Some may think, how could a child have these feelings? Others may say, “The decision-making part of the brain wasn’t developed at this early stage.” I am not a doctor, nor do I have any credentials behind my name, but I do have feelings. I can tell the difference between right and wrong. I can feel the difference between hot and cold. And I know that seeing my mother throw my father down a flight of wooden stairs and hearing the pain-filled cries let me see that this house was not a home where I felt safe growing up. Read more