I have learned a lot in just seventeen years of living so far. Coming from a broken family that is still together, yes, my parents are still together, but they don't even look at each other. They are only together for me and my brother. . . to make us happy. . . but now for some reason my brother hates my father and I don't know why. My father does everything for us, yet the hatred for him is indescribable. I always feel like I'm stuck in the middle. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay I love my mom and I love my dad. . . For them I would put myself in front of a bullet any day. However, the little things I see break my heart. I would go into the kitchen and see my father sleeping on the bus when he had paid for us to put this roof over our heads. My mother is a woman with a strong personality, a wonderful woman. . . but she's a gambler. He bet a good amount of money. which left us in a financially unstable situation. Both of my parents have two different philosophies on life. . . you see, my father likes to save money. he thinks that for the future, he'll work and work and work until he can't feel his back, just so he can pay a bill, but my mom, she's more of a person who sits back and lets the money come to her type of woman, the that it doesn't doesn't help at all. I can see where they're both coming from. . . because working hard like my father can put you in a horrible state where everything you do works and works and gets old and goes unrewarded. Sometimes when I see my father I get sad and I tell him: "you're working, but it's like you're working to pay for your grave." My mom is a gambler, but she doesn't admit it. sometimes he leaves the house for hours and hours and comes back. We know where he was, but he always tells us he was at my aunt's house. . . yes, right. My brother is a very quiet guy, not behind the scenes though. People think he's a gentleman, but to me he's an asshole, excuse my language, but that's one way to describe him! Just listen to my mother. . . ignore me and my father. But don't get me wrong, I love my brother. But I never told him. Sometimes I sit on the bed and cry because I don't know what to do. My family is DESTROYED. . . and I'm trying to put it back together, but it looks like I'm trying to fix a broken mirror. . . it's best to leave it on the floor. instead of hurting yourself trying to put it all back together. I never seem to give up though. I always smile, not because I'm happy. but only because my father gets sad when he sees me sad. I try to leave the house as much as possible, but I feel guilty. Someday I'll somehow do something amazing and have a high paying job, just so I can come home one day and throw money in the air and say, "here, this is the cure to our problem", maybe then my Dad can pay off our debts that he tries so hard to pay. . . and maybe my mother could use that money to gamble as much as she wants so we can stop fighting about money. So I'm here stuck in the middle. My mom doesn't have a job, my dad has a job and barely makes enough money to pay bills and food and my brother is eighteen, but he knows nothing. . . he simply sits at home in front of the computer. Me? Well, I'm a seventeen year old girl with self esteem issues. I'm not a confident girl. . . but I always have a smile on my face, always. Sometimes it's easier to smile than have people ask you what's wrong. I have people around me, family and friends, but I still feel alone. I don't open up to anyone. . . not a soul. . . this is because I have a lot of pride. . . people who know my situation make me feel weak. . . so I keep it inside me. . . smile during the day. . ..