FRESH VOICE

Journalism I student Abigail Holloway discusses how differences in their childhood affected who they are as a person.

Everyone on the earth was raised differently. Even siblings all had different experiences growing up. But is there a right or wrong way to grow up, or does everyone have a way that works for them?

My dad died when I was only nine months old, which meant I spent the majority of my childhood being raised by my grandparents just as much, and at certain times, more than my mom. So whenever someone wanted to have a playdate on the weekends, it was always “Here’s my grandma’s number” instead of my mom’s.

This seems like such a simple difference and it was at first. But as I got older, more people asked why I wasn’t with my mom as much. So I’d respond with a simple “Dad died when I was young and it’s been hard on her,” and that would suffice for a while.

Eventually, there would be more questions. “What is life like without a dad?” “How was it being raised by your grandparents?” “Do you wish your family was normal?”

The last question always got me because to me, this was normal. I knew nothing else, I had no other version of how to grow up. Just mine.

You can always tell a little bit about someone from how they were raised. What their “normal” was. My normal made me really good at packing bags in less than 15 minutes. My normal made it easy for me to bounce from place to place daily. My normal took me from Athens to Oglethorpe County at least a few times every week.

Everyone has a “normal.” A way they were raised that is completely individual to them. No two people were raised the same, no two people will get the same things out of their childhood. It’s what you do with this “normal” that matters in the long run.

I could’ve lied, told people that I lived at my mom’s house all the time, and that my dad just had a job that made him travel a lot. I could’ve said that my grandma’s number was my mom’s. I could’ve spent years wishing for my life to be different, but I didn’t. And you shouldn’t either. O

Question of the month

What are your summer plans?

"I’m going to Mexico right after school ends. Fortunately, we have my grandparents live over there since they travel back and forth and we’re building a house there.”

-- JERRY BLANCO, CCHS freshman

“I’m just going to hang out with my friends and plan things as I go. I’m (also) gonna go to Canada (with my family).”

-- SAM DOMIZI, CCHS sophomore

“I plan on going on vacation, hopefully out of the country. I’m not really sure (where) but hopefully somewhere in South America.”

-- ALWIN JOSEPH, CCHS junior

“I work at (summer) camps, so I’m going to be doing that to make money and because I love helping people, and then I’m going to Alaska.”

“This summer I plan on traveling to New York for a few weeks. My cousin just graduated from nursing school so she’s having a big celebration.