Moment of Change

            In October 2011, while sitting in my college classroom, I received a phone call from my mom, but decided to call her back during break. Moments later my sister, Meaghan, sent a text message. She basically said the bank was foreclosing on our home, which our family has had since we were both born. My mother, Rosemary, had received a notice from the bank that if they didn’t receive $40,000 dollars, the foreclosure process would begin. This message changed a lot for me, how could this be happening? My mom, my sister and I have been consistently employed and we don’t excessively spend.

I had to hold back tears as the class was continuing a discussion. I cannot recall the subject of the discussion, since my mind was preoccupied. Where would my mom live? Would she be able to keep Izzy, our dog? How are we going to overcome this situation? My professor turned off the room lights and turned on the documentary Invisible Children, which gave me the ability to make it through class without anyone seeing me breakdown. After my class, I talked to my mom and my older sister, who convinced me there was no turning back now and to look at the positives. I made a decision. I was going to do my part to stay positive and not focus on the hardships along the way. -- Marriah