My Most Memorable Childhood Experience

When she and I lived in DC, kindergarten through 2nd grade, she would take me to work with her every Tuesday, because that would be the day that her job brought bagels and donuts for everyone. My mom was a C.N.A., A certified nursing assistance, she would go to the patients house and help them with their every needs. I always loved the way she was so caring, for me and the patients. We would ride the bus and train everywhere because she had a fear of driving, even when someone else would drive. Every morning she would walk me across the street to my babysitters house just to go to work, to pay rent on the apartment that we lived in. It wasn’t the best place to live, it had mice and ants, but my mom never complained, at least not to me. I remember one time I was watching Elmo and it was an episode were Elmo was teaching kids how to ride a bike without training wheels, so I woke my mom up and asked her if she would teach me and she told me after it had stopped raining, but me being that kid that had to have what, I wanted when I wanted, I told her to teach me now.

So she got up, got me on my bike that had only two wheels and taught me how to ride in the tiny kitchen we had. In the summer of 2nd grade, I spent the entire summer with my 21 year older sister and her family. When summer was over, and school was about to start, I called my mom to see when I was going to come back home and she told me that it was best for me to stay here because growing up in DC wasn’t the best. I hated her decision, but I knew she was right. When I stared school here, I got straight D’s and F’s, because DC has a different education system. I was making A’s and B’s before I got here, but part of that was because I just wanted to be with my mom.

By the 4th grade I was back on track making good grades again but then my family told me some news that changed my life FOREVER. They had told me that my mom was sick and that she was in the hospital because she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Every other weekend we would ride up to DC to go see her and almost a year later, they released her, but instead of her going back to the old apartment that we lived in, she came to come live with me and my sisters family in VA. Those were the best times, in spite of her having to be on oxygen all time, she always made the most of it. I would pretend sick just so I could skip school and lay next to her and watch cartoons with her.