sebastian-50209957 @sebastian-50209957
The first time I can remember anything was when I was 4 years old. My mom had just gotten divorced and we were living in an apartment on the lower east side of Manhattan. The smell of the dumpster outside my window is something that has stayed with me to this day.
As I grew older, things started getting tough for us. We got evicted from our apartment when I was 9 years old and had to move into a homeless shelter downtown. It wasn't easy living there but we made it work as a family. My mom found ways to make our shelter life feel normal by decorating our small room with string lights and having picnics on the roof.
After high school, my mom passed away from cancer. I was 18 years old at the time and felt so lost without her guidance. But I knew she would want me to keep moving forward for myself and my unborn child that she left behind. So I started working full-time as a nurse's assistant and eventually got pregnant with my own daughter at 19 years old. She is the light of my life.
