Sample Autobiography

No one really remembers what it was like the day of my birth. Mid-December, the frost daily kissed the windows of the hospital and left snow crystals as decorations for a bare room. I would imagine on that day the sky wept with my mother, only it was beautiful, because the sky’s tears turned to snowflakes. Despite the fact I was born in winter, something about it bothered me as a child – even as an infant – and left me feeling cold, abandoned, needing extra blankets. Even today, I prefer the warm comfort of the summer to the indifference of winter because no one likes to feel alone. My first words expressed this state of mind as well – words calling out to mama and dada – wanting so much more than their attention. As a child, I never wanted to leave their side – or they leave mine – for I was comforted by their presence as a headache is calmed by medicine; they were my medicine, and they helped me learn to appreciate life – not necessarily just mine, but more importantly, that of others.

My parents taught me much over the years, like the important stuff not learned in textbooks or from teachers. At three, when Cocoa, our dog, finished his eighteen years, my parents explained the concept of “death.” My parents taught me a stoical strength I called upon during many trying moments of my life. For our next pet, we enjoyed another eighteen long years with her; but at the end, I had to drive my tearful mother to the vet to hand over the decrepit and suffering dog and that took courage – a strength my father admitted he couldn’t find because he couldn’t stand to watch my mother so upset. Thus, during such a trying time, Fate called upon me to be the strong one; Fate dubbed me an adult – a title four or five years earlier, I would have welcomed. But it’s after becoming an adult that the realization sets in about everything our parents ever said about “life” and it not always being what we want or what we expect. Yes, it’s great to be an adult, but it’s even greater to be a child, because the realism of life hasn’t set in yet.

I still can’t imagine being so small. The little chairs, brightly painted reds and blues and yellows, still comfort the little children at the elementary school. Even though I played school for years with my cousins, I couldn’t picture what was in store for me. Yards and yards of construction paper embellished by fat crayons – thematic decorations hung from the ceiling with paper clips – and my teacher, with her laugh and the special feel of her hugs before running out the door to mom and dad. They both picked me up that first day, and I think now they may have been slightly disappointed that I did not miss them more or like school less, because that meant their little girl was one step closer to growing up. Of course, there are some parts of me that will never grow old – just like my father. I still hold a passion for the original Nintendo, which blasted its way into the world when I entered into kindergarten. I still like the original Zelda and Mario3, which seem so simple compared to what video games do today. I guess everything was simpler then but not in an inferior way. Life, itself, evolved into something much more complicated when I reached high school, because it was the time when I grew the most.

In high school, I attended my first concert, went to Florida without my parents for the first time, and experienced a first kiss from a young man I’d eventually marry. I remember going to Prom in a red dress and feeling special, really special, because the person I went with equally wanted to be there with me.

People always say that high school years are the best years of one’s life. I believe them. I feel as if I lived a lifetime in those four years and find my most vivid memories housed in that era. Even though not all the memories are the greatest, I find more opportunity to learn from those experiences I wish I could change. I wish I hadn’t lost my grandparents during those years, but now I appreciate life to a greater extent. And I owe that awareness to my parents, to whom I am always eternally grateful.