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My life has always been categorized by two headers; the good and the bad. Now I do this because I have had my share of good experiences and bad ones, but occasionally I have one that falls into both categories. The one experience that has become the biggest inspiration in my life would to most, seem bad but I found it to be mostly a good thing since it taught me the most and will probably be the one thing that influences me for the rest of my life. When I was 18 I became homeless.

My mother and I had never gotten along; she was an avid drinker whereas I was an adult in my eyes. My parents divorced when I was 15 and I decided against my better to judgment to live with my mother, since it was what my younger sister wanted. Honestly, at first things were great. Until my high school graduation came and went. In the two months after I graduated I lived with my mom's parents in order to relieve a burden from myself and to get away from my mother, hoping to help her grow up more or less.

But one day, my mother lost it and I ended up getting told to get out of her life and her parents. I was suddenly, an 18 year old high school graduate,and homeless. What a kick in the stomach that was. I lost my car, my job and basically the entire family I had depended on for most of my life. I had to suddenly take everything I had ever learned living in my mother's house and use somehow to survive.

My boyfriend, Nate and his best friend, Alan were homeless at the time, both because they had no where to go. So when I hooked up with them, we started a plan of action. Alan, Nate, and I stayed under a bridge for a good four days, sleeping for a few hours, asking friends for spare change and eating maybe one meal a day, whilst coming up with a way to come up with money for a hotel so that we might have a shot at getting jobs. Things ended up falling apart and Alan moved in with a friend leaving Nate and I to our own devices.

Shelter wasn't too hard, since we moved to bridge near my old school where I could go and get change from friends on a day to day basis, receive news about my sister and well, see familiar faces who wanted to help us. Other than maybe a few dollars here and there, that we used to buy gallons of water, Nate and I needed a way to eat without having to walk great distances in the 80 degree high humidity weather. Thus came the first rule of thumb. Digging in dumpsters may seem disgusting to an average everyday person but it wasn't really. It was a way to survive.

Basically in the three months I had no home, which extended to winter, I learned a few valuable things that guide me in any decisions I make. Currently I have a roof over my head, I've gained much of the weight and more that I had lost in those three months and have a great job. The things I pulled from the experience show me what's really important in life; friends, family, love, life, stability and sadly, money. I never make a foolish decision, I work my butt off to live as cheaply as possible, as does my boyfriend, in order to have money to fall back on in case we ever become homeless again. I haven't had a relationship with my mom in almost 16 months and life is something I can cherish every moment of the day.

Learn more about this author, Heather Lauer.
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