Manny Padron: Autobiographical Essay

Manny Padrón

Mrs. Garrity/ Mrs.Borrenstein

English II

17 January 2014

Benchmark Essay

Atticus Finch said, “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point view-until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” In my life this quote means so much; coming from a dictatorship like Cuba it’s harder than people think.

On the exact date of  March 6, 1998 my life began, and from then on my life would be a rough rollercoaster ride. By the time I could walk and talk my parents were divorced so I never really had an idea of what a true happy family looked like. I still remember having to go from house to house between my mom and dad’s house. I would always cry when I was away from either one of them, I used to miss my mom when I was with my Dad and vice-versa. Between all of the moving, leaving, and crying I had a little bit of depression. As a little kid, I would love being with all of my family and it hurt me a lot knowing that it could not happen all the time. I remember being happier with my Dad instead of my mom because he would let me do anything I chose to do and he would always keep me safe. Being with my Mom would be rough because she, at the time, lived with an abusive boyfriend and he would mostly hit her in front of me and I remember doing everything I could to get him off of her and I would cry so many times a day because of that. Sometimes he would try to threaten me and my mom would yell and tell him not to touch me so he got mad at her. One time he told my mom that he would kill my uncle and that’s when my mom and I knew it was time to get out and put him behind bars. I remember exactly how we got him arrested because it was so cool to me. We went to the police and told them the story and they told us what to do. We were instructed to put a brick outside the steps when the guy was home. In the middle of the day he came home and I put the brick on the stairs. When we were all about to fall asleep we heard a helicopter above us and they said in Spanish “we have you surrounded come out with your hands up,” and then the ground troops came in and took him away. I remember being so happy I hugged my mom and we cried tears of joy. To this day I think about those days and say to myself I wish he would try to do something like that now.

After that problem was out of my life I still had more problems. I never really had my own bed; I would sleep on hammock and I also could not drink the water because it was dirty. My mom used to be so stressed that when I did something wrong she would hit me and scream at me but my Grandma would always save me because I was her favorite grandson. I would see my dad only a couple times a month and my feelings kept getting hurt over and over. After a year or so I was suddenly getting happier; I began seeing my father more and being with all of my family and having fun.

Then suddenly a man my Mom met by the beach came to our house one day. He introduced himself to me as David and as soon as I saw him I loved him; he made me happy. When he was around I would never cry; I would always laugh and smile; even when I got mad and put a frown on my face he would sing me a special song. The song would go something like this, “you cannot cover the sun with one finger; the truth is the truth; so don’t frown at me.” Although it sounds better in Spanish it always put a smile on my face. From the day my mother met David she would always be happy and calm. As the days passed I would see him regularly and I began to love him as my real dad, he would show me so much love and affection that not even my own family could give me. He was basically my savior and my new hope for a better life.

My mom later got serious with him and ended up marrying him. I, of course, was the ring boy at the marriage. A year or so later he told us that he wanted to take us to America. I was not happy leaving my family but it was up to my mom and my dad also agreed because he knew I would have a better life there. My father spoke to David about keeping me safe and making sure he makes the right decisions.

Later in the year my Mom, David, and I got on a plane to the U.S and when we got there I had a weird feeling. For some reason I was feeling cold. As a boy from Cuba where it is always hot I thought I was sick. When we got out of the airport I saw white colored drops coming from above. I stuck my tongue out and tried to eat them. David laughed and told me that it was not food and we got into his car and left to some place called a house. At this place I had my own bed and room! I was happy being in America.

After a few years in America it all seemed to be going so well until my mom decided that she wanted to live with her cousin instead of David. When she was about to leave she was crying and looked at me and said the most painful words I have ever heard, “are you coming with me or are you staying with David?” I didn’t know what to do. I loved them both. I was stuck between my mother and my stepdad. I wanted to go with her but I had friends where I lived and I had started school already, plus I had better opportunities with David so I ended up saying “David.”

At present, I barely see my mom but we speak every day. My father lives in Cuba still and so does the rest of my family. David has been my biggest supporter throughout my hard life and we get along fine. But the things I deal with still hurt. When people look at me they automatically assume that I am a delinquent and that I don’t care about anything. To be honest I am none of that. I am just a person who has been to hell and back, so like a turtle, I keep my outer shell hard so that my inner weakness does not show. So this is why the quote, “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point view [and] you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it,” means so much to me because people think they know what I am all about and try to judge, but they have no idea what I have been through and still am going through.

Works Cited

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: HarperPerennial (1930]). p. 85-87