And then she vanished

My name is Jenifer Juliza Cardona-serrano; this is my story.

I was born on September 3, 1,993 in a health care center in Guatemala city. I always suffered the rejection of my father and this time was not an exception. I think he wanted a son but instead I was born. He always said “it (referring to me) was not his daughter.” I suffered rejection from the first moment I was born. Three days later, my mother was taken from where we lived because I cried a lot. A woman with a newborn sent to live in the street. We were homeless for three or four days. Later, my brother was born and because he was the adoration of my father and of the rest of my family. My mom always tried to love me so I would not feel so rejected. I saw through this and there was no turning back

I always suffered the rejection of my family for being different. My father never lived with us really, nor was at the time when I was born. I grew up only with my mom and my brother, my dad only came once a year to see us. He would only stay for 20 days before leaving again until next year. I never had a good relationship with my brother either. I think it was due to the rivalry to see who would win the affection and love of our father, but my brother always won. I suffered several collapses in my life. My mother took me to psychologists to try to help me, when I was 7 years old I wanted to jump from the 3rd-story balcony. I can not explain how I stayed alive.

I grew up without the love of a father, my mother did her best for my brother and for me. My brother and I always wanted to kill each other. When I was 8 years old, it was the first time that I tried alcohol in my life. I started to take refuge in alcohol. My grandmother and my grandfather were dependent on alcohol and began to teach me how to drink all kinds of liquor at my young age. The first time I got drunk I was only 9 years old. Meanwhile, my mom did not know why all the time I wanted to go to my grandparents’ house. At 9 years old, I found out that my father had another son and the most painful thing is that I found out through a cousin. She told me that my father had had another son whom he loved more than me!!!!!

At age 10 we received the news that my mom’s brother needed a kidney urgently. Of the two sisters my uncle had, my mom was the one who came out compatible. She donated one of her kidneys to my uncle. I remember I was crying and crying, living that chapter of my life was very hard for me. since I became a young lady in those days, my mom was not there to give me advice or give me affection. I was with my brother and my stepfather alone. This lasted almost 6 months.My mom was very ill at that time. unfortunately, my mom made bad decisions about the couple with whom to live. My mom’s husband is more than 20 years older than her (my mom is 45 years old) ( and my stepfather is 68 years old). so at first everything was beautiful and I was excited by the simple idea of ​​having a father. In the end and to this day my stepfather never loved us and will never love us. it was difficult to deal with, I left so alone at that stage of my life.

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