Support from Family

We all have a sense of what family is because of who our blood relatives are. As we grow, we fight and reconcile with those that we hold close. Through it all, we learn that they have our backs. From these experiences, we begin to understand unconditional love.

As time goes on, we spend more time away from our families. We begin meeting new friends in school and interacting with others throughout our days. Extracurricular activities expose us to those with whom we share interests. Sometimes we even get the chance to meet others by chance.

In each of these situations, new bonds form. These connections grow to become the foundation of our social lives. Our social circle provides the experiences that we need to learn to exist with others. Through these experiences, we gain insight into what we are willing to accept.

Friends moving away during our early years can have a detrimental impact on our growth. I realized this relationship by looking at my own childhood experiences. The group of friends that I had grown very close to had all moved away while we were very young. The negative emotions caused by the separation would turn out to be a blessing and a curse.

Dealing with what I now know to be feelings of loneliness and abandonment, I built up walls. Alongside these walls, I developed a firm resolve to handle things on my own. I believe that this belief is what kept me away from gangs. I knew that if I found a problem that I couldn't solve, I would have to keep at it until I did. This way of thinking would guide me through life.

Just when I thought that I had built a strong fortress around myself, I realized that a close blood relative of mine was an essential part of my foundation. At the time, I was dealing with a problem that had no obvious solution. While I was able to keep this situation hidden from most of my family, this person managed to remain in tune with me. They stepped in to guide me to a solution changing my relationship with them from that moment forward. To this day, I still rely on them to occasionally hold me up when I have taken too many punches.