Childhood is precious and fleeting, but perhaps the most poignant part is that we rarely appreciate it until it’s long over. There’s often a moment buried in our memory that we can look back on as the time we no longer felt like a child. Retrospectively, it can be easy to see how that watershed moment changed everything – which is exactly what these 15 people realized.
#15. A lot for a teenager to take in.
“Being diagnosed as a diabetic at 14. First I almost die from Diabetic Ketoacidosis (which i can assure you is extremely unpleasant) and then spend 5 days in the hospital getting a crash course on everything i need to do to keep myself alive from then on.
Counting carbs, checking blood sugar, how to determine the correct amount of insulin to give myself, how to treat loss, how to treat highs, what to do if I’m spilling ketones.
That’s a lot for a teenager to take in and process.”
#14. Both my parents
“When both my parents died in a car crash when I was 20.”
#13. A sophomore in college
“My bipolar started to fully manifest when I was a sophomore in college. I ended up making a lot of mistakes, ruining a lot of friendships, and dropping out of school. It’s taken 5 years for me to pick up the pieces of my fractured life. I’m stable, I have a well paying job, but man do I feel older than I should.”
#12. She told me she was pregnant
“When my girlfriend told me she was pregnant. I was in college and I went from planning where I was going to party the next weekend to graduating and getting a job in an instance.”
#11. I had to step in big time
“Realizing in college how little money my parents really had and that I had to step in big time.. that matured me up really quick. Went from barely working and partying to handling 20-30 hour work weeks bartending and school.”
#10. He took everything
“In 2015 my dad kicked me out of my own house so he could live there with his new bitchy wife.
I had to file a report, get a lawyer and had him force removed from my house. Before that he emptied the place, took everything but my old bed. So there I was with no job a bunch of furniture to buy, bills to pay and a lawyer to finish paying. That moment was def a turn point in my life.”
#9. My dad’s third wedding
“The day of my dad’s third wedding.
I won’t go into too many details, but my dad married a chick he met on the internet and uprooted our entire lives, we immigrated to the states and everything. During the time they were dating, she seemed nice enough and I was pretty stoked to get a mom. Literally the second the ring was on her finger she started treating me poorly. She blamed me (an 11 year old kid) for leaving her purse at the venue when she’d never even mentioned I should look after it. It was still there when we got back but the damage was done. I knew she wasn’t gonna be my mommy but I still wanted her and my dad to be happy. Spoilers: they werent. It was a long 8 years of her treating me like crap and me trying to deal with it.
It worked out okay I suppose. I’m 26 now and while I always try to be kind to people, I don’t take their bullshit.”
#8. My mom’s death
“My mom’s death when I was 17.”
#7. Felt like I was taking care of him
“My father lost his job to due to his alcoholism, and then about a month later, my mother tried to take her own life by taking as many pills as possible. I was 14 at the time, and for a while felt like I was taking care of them, instead of me. I put my head down and told myself that I was going to do as best as I could in school, do whatever I could at home, and then get as far away as possible. The first two years were particularly difficult, but thankfully I had a set of friends that kept me happy and sane. I learned to silo my life which is still something I’m working on, but it made me realize a lot about adults and that parents don’t always have it together as they seem.”
#6. Makes you appreciate the little things
“Getting a gun held to my head whilst delivering pizzas. Makes you appreciate the little things.”
#5. He wasn’t going to change
“When I found out that I may have leukemia. I took a hard look at my relationship with my fiance. He was not supportive of me at all. That’s what finally made me realize that he wasn’t going to change into the person I needed him to be. He had been prioritizing himself the whole time we were together and I finally had enough.”
#4. I watched him bury our dog
“I realized my dad wasn’t unbreakable when I watched him bury our dog.
That day I watched the strongest man I had ever known collapse on his knees sobbing. And I realized that life is a lot tougher than I thought.
EDIT: I’m glad some of you have been able to share your stories. I hope it has been cathartic. Here’s to all the good doggos in our lives.”
#3. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for my kids
“Getting my fiance at the time pregnant with my son when we were 18. I was a total fuck up in school and after school, I was a drug addict, I didnt really have any drive. Then once I knew I had another human to take care of I figured my shit out fast. Took me a while to shake the drug habit fully but I’ve been fully clean now for almost a year. I’d be dead if it wasnt for my kids (I also had a daughter not long after I had my son).”
#2. I grew up that night
“I had a crush on an older guy since 6th grade. He invites me over to his place sophomore year. I go, we watch some movies and start making out. I’m a pretty straight forward type of gal and I am pretty confident. We start making out and all is fine, but he asks me to take my shirt off, and I didn’t want to. Slowly he keeps making me feel shitty about it, and he keeps pushing things further while I am adamant about not going any further. I keep saying no, but not leaving. I’m not enjoying this as it feels like I’m fighting to keep my innocence the entire time. He starts physically overpowering me and gets his hand in my pants and starts fingering me aggressively. I’ve had more than enough now and I’m not letting myself get overpowered more than I already have. I tell him that if he doesn’t quit right now, I will be telling his mother about this. She is a fantastic lady who I have known for a few years now. He stops but gets all defensive like he didn’t do anything wrong. I leave.
I grew up that night. I can’t quite describe just how I changed, but something inside me snapped, I was far more adult like with everything after that. I think my inner mother came out of her shell before she gave birth to any kids.”
#1. My first semester of college
“Miserable grades my first semester of college.
That never happened in high school, and I had to change habits quickly.”
Something to think about the next time you’re looking at your own precious little ones.
