Jorunal+2

Over View: Daisy Marie Orr is 70 years old. When she was 13 years old she was forced to take on the role of her families mothers.

1. Were you aware that your mother was going to leave? She knew that her mother and father had been arguing a lot lately. She was unaware of how bad the situation was. Her father had never abused her mother, but had used threats against her to scare her mother into doing what he wanted. She in a way almost expected her mother to leave, but she thought she had more time with her. She also had the idea in her head that she would take her with her on her way out.

2. What new responsibilities and chores were you forced to take on when your mother left? The new responsibilities that she had to take on were the role of the mother as the family. She had to cook all the meals and clean the house daily. She already had the chores around the farm even before her mother left so now she had double the work. She still had to do all of her daily chores around the farm like milking the cows, cleaning up after the animals, and tending to all the animals. Then while those chores were going on she had to cook all the family meals and clean the house. She also had to tend to her brothers. She had to make sure that they were still going to school and getting an education. She had to raise them like she was the mother because her father was no help in raising the children so that they had a good upbringing.

3. How old were all of your brothers when your mother left? All of her brothers were younger than her. Her brothers were 10, 8, 6, and 5.

4. How did you explain your mother leaving to your brothers? She didn't really explain much to her brothers. There wasn't much to explain without making her dad look like a horrible man. Her 10 year old brother,, understood a little of what had happened considering that he knew that his parents had been fighting a lot lately. Her 8 year old brother,, understood a little less he knew his mother had left because of his father but he didn't understand much after that. Her 5 and 6 year old brothers didn't understand much of the situation at all. They knew their mother had left but didn't understand why at all.

5. Did you have to drop out of school? She was close to dropping out of school at some points but she was determined to get the education she deserved. She would got to school everyday because it was kind of her safe haven. At school she didn't have to deal with her father or home or any of her chores. She was basically stress free at school. She was an easy straight "A" student. She didn't have to try hard to succeed with excellent grades. She finished school through 12th grade.

6. How did this experience effect your brothers? This experience didn't effect her brothers that much. They of course didn't have their real mother anymore but she stepped in as a mother figure without much trouble. The boys respected her as if she was a mother. They had a couple new chores that they did voluntarily to help out their sister because she had so many new chores too.

7. How did you feel about your father after this happened? When this happened the way she felt about her father was hard to put into words. She had a lot of resentment and anger towards him. She couldn't lash out or do anything about her feelings for many reasons. Her brothers were around a lot of the time. She didn't want to put the wrong image of their father into their heads even though it was quite clear to them what their father had become. She also had mixed emotions because he was her father. As her father she had to have some forgiveness and love in her heart for him, but he chased her mother away so she had anger towards him.

8. Did you know where your mother went?

9. Do you know where she is now? If so, are you still in touch with her? 10. How did this loss of innocence change you? This loss of innocence