As children we make many idle threats and angry promises, never realizing the impact they could bestow upon our lives. At the age of fifteen I learned that lesson the hard way. The words my mother and I had exchanged during common adolescent--parent confrontations were now my reality. I had no parent figure in my life, and I was on my own. I remember sitting in the living room as she packed her things. I …showed first 75 words of 642 total…

…showed last 75 words of 642 total…had become a comfort and no longer a terror. But, I think the final twist of irony came for my mother when she decided to move back in just before graduation. After she had been living there about a month she came to me and wanted to know why I didn=t want to spend anytime with her, after all I was her child. My only reply was, ANo, mother I am my own adult.@