Growing up in a dysfunctional family is hard. It can lead to so many problems during your childhood, and no one should have to experience it alone. Keitlin Kisting talked to our class last Friday about what growing up in these situations can do to a person, and I was horrified at what she had to go through growing up.
Her story was quite interesting. During her younger ages, her dad had always been her role model, but he was always travelling, so she mainly lived with her mom. Now her mom was a different story. Every day, Keitling would hear things like “I wish I never had you”, and she was only 3 years old. She was barely even a kid yet, but she said it was one of the darkest moments of her life.
At the age of 4, she already felt like she had nothing to live for, and so she jumped. Out the window of her house. She only lived on the first floor, but even the thought that at such a young age this had crossed her mind was horrifying. Her mom never truly loved her, and she explained to us how she wishes that any qualities she got from her mom, she hoped she could put to good use now.
With tears growing in her eyes, she explained how she had moved in with her grandmother. Now, she is her favourite person in the world. Her grandmother raised her, and her cousin and they became somewhat like siblings. Her cousin had gone through a similar situation with her family, and so now they had each other to talk to.
Soon her brother was born, so she moved back in with her family. She thought that things would get better, but of course, they did not. Everyday things became worse and worse, and all she wanted to do was protect him. It took her so long to understand that this was not how a family was ‘supposed to’ function.
This is such an underestimated issue in the world. Every day there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of families who live the same life. Keitlin brought us all into the light. She presented us with information we never knew of before, and we didn’t know what to do about it. So I wanted to write this, inform others about the hidden issues in the world. At such a young age, people can develop signs of depression, and feelings that they have no purpose. This is such a huge problem because it can cause much bigger problems as they grow up.