Take Life As It Is, Don't Predict It

• Stacey Bilchouris, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2007

19th of November 1990, my Mum went into labour to have her first child. Which is me, Florence, but I’m known as Flo. When I was three months old, I spent the day with Aunty Shay. That day my Mum and Dad had a car accident and passed away. In the will it said that my Aunty had to look after me now.
When I was younger I found it really hard to figure out why I didn’t have a Mum and a Dad around. My Aunty was really young when she had to take care of me; she was only twenty years of age. It was more of a friendship between us, than an Aunty and Niece relationship. It was really hard at kindergarten and primary school because most of my peers didn’t understand why my Mum and Dad didn’t drop me off and pick me up.
In my younger years I was always sad, but I would never let anyone know what I was feeling. At school whenever we did painting and drawing, I used lots of shades of blue and black. When I look back at these paintings and drawings, I have realised that a lot of my anger and sadness has gone. You know that saying a picture is worth a thousand words. I would have to re-phase that; a picture is worth a thousand emotions.
I have started to enjoy scrap booking. As I was looking through my house, I found photos of my Mum at my age now; I look like her, kind of. My Mum’s name was Rosemarie and my Dad’s name was Andy. I have made a whole scrap book of my parents. I found out that my Mum and Aunty had a Sister named Jessie, but she died of Cancer at three years old. Finding all this out made my Aunty and I a lot closer.
My parents were well off so when it came to my Aunty buying me toys and stuff she wasn’t struggling for money. Aunty Shay said to me once that she wanted us to live in my parent’s house because she didn’t want me to feel separated form them. I think Aunty Shay has been a fantastic Mum and I know for a fact, when she has her own children she will be an even better Mum.
Living life the way that I have lived it, I would never want to turn back and change a thing. Life is really a rollercoaster. You need to jump over some hurdles, to achieve your goals, in other words not everything is given to you. Not having anyone there is good in a way because you have no one to stand behind. You have to take everyday as it comes and don’t predict the future.