"Mom, have you seen my new shirt? Dad can you please fix my window - it's jammed!" My parents - my heroes. They were just a door down the hall and never too far away. Whether it was repairing my window, or doing my laundry, my parents had been my backbone my whole life. As my spine curved toward adulthood and I hesitantly waved farewell to my teenage years, I was pressed with the grueling …showed first 75 words of 508 total…

…showed last 75 words of 508 total…was stronger then it ever had been before. Though I struggled and suffered through a war against myself, moving out taught me to grow up. Dad can't be my credit card, Mom can't do my laundry, and they both can't be my backbone. Learning from myself has been the most important step in making it on my own. Although it suffered a few bumps and bruises, my backbone soon came together piece-by-piece, vertebrae by vertebrae.