Keep Going

Keep Going

Everything that I've ever been able to accomplish would not be if it wasn't for those reasons that kept me going. I've been through a'lot in the past year having to face my fears, face the bumps. I have learned that it was no longer about the things you did yesterday or worrying about your tomorrow, but to live it day by day. I always looked up to a quote “ God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Every time I felt like giving up I always had another reason to keep on going like my family, my best friend, and Legos. That is my true belief.

My family, my dad, my mom, and my sister is all I've really ever had. In school you start out having friends and you grow with them, eventually you start to get older to the point that every year you start losing one or more friends. Then eventually you're all alone. The only people that never leave you no matter what gets in the way is family. Since the day I was born my parents promised to be the friend no one else could have. What friend will you have that's out there that shares the exact blood as you?

My dad shares the same name as me so that makes him Julio Senior, and me Julio Junior. He's a very quiet man, the one to never speak much. One to never really express how he feels. Even though I don't know what he's thinking or feeling I know he loves me because he's had to take care of me since he was 21. Having to be a pretty young parent, my dad never got to finish school due to the fact he had to work to take care of me and my mom. I’d say he's one of the hardest working dads on the planet and that's taught me to work for everything. If you work hard at it and you fail, try again. My dad has a strong character that makes him pretty intimidating but don't be fooled he's soft at heart. I've only seen him cry 2 times my whole life, 1 when he lost me for a while due to drug abuse, 2 when he saw me get back up on my feet after time in treatment. He's proud of me. I know that's why he's another reason to keep going.

My mom, her name is Norma, she's a little lady 4’11. I outgrew her when I was 8 years old which is pretty funny to me no matter how much older I get she continues to call me her baby. My mom has been the only girl so far that hasn't broken my heart, my mom's been the best friend I could have ever asked for. She was there when the first girlfriend broke my heart and for me that was hard. I would cry but she would only hug me tight and tell me everything would be okay. I learned after getting my heart broken twice that no one will love you like your mom. She, like my dad, also had to get out of school due to having me but even though it stopped her from finishing anything, she gets to see me grow everyday into the man she's taught me to be. She loves me more than any girl will and that's another reason to keep going everyday.

My sister, her name is ' Mikayla. She's a little munchkin who is full of crazy energy everyday. She doesn’t stop talking and talking but as a 2 year old her vocabulary is astonishing. She was born at the same time I had to deal with some of the hardest parts of my life. Only to help me realize so much. Growing up as an only child I had everything I could've ever asked for. Being young I always asked for another brother or sister but it never came. As I got to 15 I never thought I would have a sister or a brother so I never had to be a role model for anyone. I got into bad habits starting using drugs and alcohol. Then like a miracle my sister is born. I turned my life around to promise her that I would never be that guy again. That I would only be the brother she wants me to be; a role model. Because of her I am in a better place. I put her before me so I could better myself. So someday she can be proud of me. Even though she was too young to know what I was going through, I know my sister loves me and she's another reason to never give up.

My brother, He's not really my brother by blood but i say he's my brother by heart. His name is Sergius Mckenzie and he's my best friend. I met this skinny boy my Freshman year of high school. At the beginning I did not like him because he wasn't in my kind of “group”. As we got older though we started doing dumb things. Anything and everything we've done was always together. For the beginning of our friendship he and I were addicted to all sorts of drugs and when we started falling back in school. To better himself he decided to go to OYCP (Oregon Youth Challenge Program) to get him straightened out. That would mean him leaving me behind with all the problems I already had and I wouldn't have him to help me out. During the time he was gone I got in some deep trouble for using drugs, got suspended from school then I got locked up. We would write to each other when we could but it wasn't till the one letter I got from him that changed the course of the friendship forever. He wrote “ Bro I know you're going through some really hard times and I'm sorry I'm not there to help. I promise when I'm home I won't give up on you and I'll be there every day till you and I are sober”. He made that promise to me and I said I would do the same. I went and changed my life around for him to stay sober too. The fact that he was able to stick with me even after 4 years going through hell and back is amazing. I wouldn't ever change him for anyone else. Now that he's in the army he inspires me to go everyday. He's another reason to go farther in my goals and not give up.

LEGOS, you are able to build anything and everything your mind can make up. Amazingly I work at a lego shop which is honestly the best job in the world. My favorite kind of legos are Star Wars sets. It wasn't till a day where I happened to be going through having to get locked up that I decided to build my last lego set before I was sent away. Went to Barnes and Nobles book shop and bought an AT-TE lego walker. I was very depressed and at that time I moved out to live with my grandma. She would always notice that I was never really me until I picked up my legos and spread them out. My focus on legos and building a final project calmed me down, it soothed me to a point where all my pains, hurts, worries went away. They drove my crazy thoughts away and I only focused on the next piece to fit. I say legos at that time saved my life. They are materialistic but they gave me another reason to keep going in life. Once you're dead you don't get to build legos.

My belief is that I have found my reasons to keep going. Throughout all the tribulations and every bump that has been in my way. I’ve managed to always think about those who care about me. Those who care about me always seem to make me want to be better for me but also for them. Family, my brother, and LEGOS have always been there for me telling me I'm better than that. I have all the reasons in the world to keep going and to never give up. For you need every piece of problems, lessons, to build you. Just like a Lego set.