Growing up in a blended family taught me about abuse, about distrust, and about myself. Two or three Months before my fourth birthday, my father met a new woman. At first, she seemed nice and sweet, but in reality she was not either of those. She was abusive to me and her own children; she was aggresssive and mean. After I figured out who she reall was, I knew that she could not be trusted. I taught myself how to cook my own food and do my own laundry. I had taken care of myself from three years old up until ten years old. Right after my third birthday, my dad and my biological mother got a divorce. Shortly after the divorce, my older brother and sister moved in with my cousin, leaving my father and I all by ourselves. My father and I had to move back in with my grandparents until he got back on his feet. This is my memoir because this was a negative influence in my life; what happened earlier in my life showed me that an adults' actions can greatly impact their child's life. I wrote about this to show that i had to mature and grow up faster than almost everyone my age. Also, I wrote about a negative influence to show that no child young or old should have to depend on themselves.