Luna / L.H

The Story of Luna

September 21 2004
Alejandra and Luis Gutierrez were rushing to the hospital. Alejandra was experiencing what she thought to be contractions. How could it possibly be that she was experiencing contractions her due date wasn't for another 2 months.

Alejandra was rushed into an emergency C-Section while her husband was asked to make the hard decision of having to choose between his wife and his baby. Luis was told that if push comes to shove they would only be able to save one so now here he was signing his wife's life away.

As if by a miracle both Alejandra and the baby were fine. Alejandra gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and they named her Mariana Luna Gutierrez. Due to the hospitals limited resources Mariana was immediately taken to a different hospital via Air Ambulance.
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Mariana was at the NICU for a little over 5 months. Her parents would see her often and they couldn't get enough of her. Due to her health complications she always had frequent doctor's appointments as a child. As she grew older she developed a fear of doctors.

On September 24 2009 Alejandra and Luis Gutierrez brought another life into the world. Although Mariana already had an older sister she was excited to have another sibling. As she grew older that excitement decreased every day. Mariana was now the middle child. It wasn't until she turned 13 that she realized how unimportant she felt in her family. Every birthday was now shared with her brother and she was stuck with her sister's hand me downs from phones to clothes, to shoes.

At the age of 13 Mariana realized that being the middle child meant always being overlooked. She was to blame for everything and anything bad that happened to her family. Mariana felt like her parents no longer loved her. She wasn't close with her siblings or parents and she felt so alone. Marianas parents had cute little nicknames for her siblings and they would never use their actual names. Whereas with Mariana they did. The only time her siblings were called by their names was when they were in trouble. This caused Mariana to grow a hatred for her first name. By the time she was 14 she would introduce herself as Luna to anyone and everyone she met.

By the age of 17 she had a stable job as a server at a restaurant. She was making her own money and she hoped to be able to move out. Luna wanted nothing more than to be free from her parent's torment. She had endured years and years of physical, mental and emotional abuse and she was over it.