A Teenager’s Memoir: Surviving Parental Abandonment In The Revolutionary 70’s

It is very difficult being a teenager. You're in between childhood and adulthood. My teenage years were challenging. I was very attached to my father who abandoned our family when I was thirteen leaving us impoverished. After we lost our house, my mother, brother and I moved to another neighborhood. In those days we didn't have cell phones and social media so I lost touch with all my friends, which was very traumatizing.

In our new life without my father I dealt with bullying, poverty, parental divorce, abandonment, loneliness, depression and having a distracted, overwhelmed single mother as my only parent. However, there was still a lot of love between our regrouped family which included my grandparents who played a significant part in our lives.

I went on to become a psychotherapist and a self-help pop psychology author. I wrote this memoir to be an inspiration to teens everywhere that all struggles and problems can be transcended. Pain can be transformed and utilized for creativity.

I hope my story teaches readers to never give up hope despite any challenges they are facing. If you work hard enough you can achieve your goals and dreams despite the odds against you.