Sometimes the electricity would shut off, other times the water, often both. When I was growing up in Los Angeles, my family kept a cooler in our hallway that we’d fill with food and ice. My parents fought a lot those nights. Usually, my brothers ended up leaving with my father, while I stayed with my mother. We would color by candlelight in Dollar Store coloring books and watch reruns of “Roseanne” on a battery-powered TV. My mother remembers those nights as the “bad times.” For me, they were the moments that led to my mother becoming my best friend. — Samantha Lopez

Positively Purging-I welcome your feedbacks in the comments and your likes and passing the real life wisdom on to others as I embark on this new venture of “positively purging“, as I know each of these pieces represents something…