Some Much Needed Guidance Essay, Research Paper

Narrative Essay

?Some Much Needed Guidance?

One of the most difficult transitions I had to make as a child came in the divorce of my mother?s second marriage. Though my mother and I were strong, and always there for each other in time of need, it was still a big change and would prove to take some time to overcome. Even though the divorce was difficult it was definitely necessary. My parents weren?t getting along and the joy that was once found in the eyes of my mother finally ceased to exist.

My mother and father had many long talks and, at first, tried to work things out. It was finally decided that saving the happiness of my mother?s future would mean sacrificing the marriage. My father tried desperately to keep my mother from leaving. Perhaps this is why the divorce didn?t end sooner. My mother wasn?t giving up easily though either. She didn?t want to ruin the marriage that had lasted for so long and, more importantly, she didn?t want to endanger the childhood my brother and I had already established. It took about a month for them to finally decide to call it quits. After the final decision was reached there was no turning back. So the papers were signed and the divorce was complete.

The outcome of the divorce resulted in my mother my younger brother and myself moving out and getting our own house. The time came during the end of my freshman year in high school. The change wasn?t too difficult for me since I would still be with my mother. From the beginning I had always been considered as a ?momma?s boy.? As long as I had my mother I knew everything would turn out for the better. However, it proved to be quite a bit more difficult for my little brother.

It wasn?t that my little brother missed our father but without the guidance and firm direction of our father he would soon find himself as a rebellious young teenager who wouldn?t listened to anyone and obeyed the rules of no one. Keeping my younger brother ?in line? and going in the right direction would be a huge obstacle for my mother and I to overcome. The problems wouldn?t affect me too much but my mother began to become extremely stressed out when my brother would act up. Soon my younger brother was getting in trouble in school and becoming more and more disrespectful towards all other people.

My mother and I worked desperately to keep the youngest sibling pointed in the right direction but he had his mind set on the road paved to disappointment. We tried everything but nothing we could do would work. It was finally decided that Tim, my little brother, would stay with his father. There he could receive the attention and much needed discipline he needed so desperately. This decision was the only decision we had left and since both sides of the arrangement agreed it was the best decision we could have pursued.

It was decided that Tim would spend the remainder of the current school year and the rest of the summer with his father. A few weeks past and, to our delight, we were anxious to find out that Tim was doing much better in school and showing more respect towards other people. You could sense the change in his attitude toward the likes of my mother and I. You could tell that he missed us and that he was, in most ways, sorry for the hell he put my mother through. After receiving the discipline he so desperately needed and deserved it was decided that it would now be ok if he moved back in with us.

Tim is doing much better now. He hardly ever disrespects his mother and speaks to people with more respect than we could ever have imagined or hoped for. He?s doing much better in school now and will hopefully continue pointed it the right direction. We have not, however, forgot of the positive influences he received from his father. His father gave him the male influence and guidance he needed and couldn?t receive from his mother. Unfortunately I was, at the time, much to young to know how to guide a child let alone enforce the rules that must be held while raising a child. Because of my fathers great success my mother decided that it would be best if Tim still spend time with his father so that he can still receive the guidance needs as he evolves into an adult.

My name is Jason I currently attend Wichita State University as a Freshman. Please feel free to email me with any questions.

[email protected]