Even though we have become more independent, she still does her best to be the best mom she can be. She has always tried to find a balance between working and being a wife and mother, but found that she has always put that first in her life before a career. She is now still working to help put me and my sister through college and will still work to pay for our weddings. Then she will work for her grandchildren. I guess you can say her role in life is to be happy, live comfortably financially and do everything she can to make her family comfortable and happy.
I asked her mom last Wednesday (6/4) to see why her daughter does not talk. Her mother at first did not want to tell me, but slowly she began to tell me what happened to her youngest daughter. She made me promised that I can repeat the story to anyone in her family because she does not want to bring up the memories for her younger daughter. She told me when her daughter was around three years old; her ex-husband locked her daughter in a closest every night because she will not stop crying. As he locked her in the closest, she began to scream louder and cried harder.
She was able to prove to the judge her case, but mainly happy because she still wants to hurt her husband. Regardless of the fact that he put himself in this situation, T. Smith can not help but to flaunt her fiancée, feed into the fact that her ex husband still wants her, but can’t have her. She describes him in such derogatory terms, that it makes me feel that in order to have so much hate and hurt, there must still be love and regret. I believe that she still wishes that if her ex husband would have just been good to her, she would still be with him. I believe that she does feel bad that her children, who once really loved their father, have become bitter towards him now.
Every time her uncle and aunts go visits her she always gets sad when they have to leave because of the goodbyes. Although most of the time his flights are delayed, she decides to stay home instead of going along to drop him and leaves, her father tells her that her uncle said he will never forget them. Furthermore, she talks about the day she turned fifteen and how they did not have enough money to celebrate like most girls with a quincenera but instead they have a gathering of 6 people to celebrate. Their budget is tight but her mom still decides to buy what her daughter deserves and nothing lower. She has a fun memory despite the struggle of being poor.
She decided to go to her manage and ask when she would be getting paid, but the only thing her manager could tell her was “next week”. She grew tired of contently hearing “next week”, after this she decided that she wasn’t going to work any longer until she was given her pay from the pervious month. But the more time wasted, without pay, the sicker her daughter became. That was something she couldn’t bare. She had no one to help her.
She ended up telling my grandma she was pregnant, who was very upset about it, and eventually my grandpa found out. He was so 38 disappointed that he kicked my mom out of the house. She moved in with my dad, thinking things were going to be good now that her family was together, but little did she know that the next five months were going to be terrible. My dad was the total opposite of what she
80 "But don't you think Mrs. Sennett needs a rest?" "Yes, but I think she'll come, though. Papa told her he'd cry every single night at supper if she didn't, and then we all did." The next day I heard that Mrs. Sennett was going 85 back with them just to "help settle." She came over
I didn’t say anything and just went straight to my room. I cried myself to sleep that night, as a matter of fact, I cried myself to sleep nearly every night for a few months, I was so sad and angry because I lost my sister and best friend because of my parents. After months the police were still without a trace so they decided that it was best that they closed the case. My parents weren’t happy with their decision but they didn’t get a say. That day I saw my parents start to cry and I was crying too but it was weird because I had never seen my own parents like that before.
Marla: All I remember from my childhood is hearing my mother yelling through the walls that I shared with them, or seeing her with a black eye or broken arm and not being able to take care of me; while my father takes off for couple of days or a week. I cannot recall ever having a family dinner with my parents that was argument free and heard laughter. Clinician (Dardree): How was the relationship between your parents? Marla: The relationship between my parents was toxic, but my mother loved him a lot. Now that I’m older, I think about it and still cannot understand why she did.
The youngest child is starting school next fall and Lisa is planning on going back to work at that point. After the youngest child was born Lisa and her husband wanted to get a permanent sterilization procedure but their health insurance plan does not cover permanent methods of contraception and only covers certain types of oral contraception. Unable to cover the cost of the procedure Lisa and her husband decide on the oral contraception to prevent any further pregnancies. Lisa was really busy with a household of sick children and in that week forgot to take her pill two days in a row and ended up getting pregnant again. Lisa and her husband love being parents but are financially strapped and can not afford anymore at this point.