Throughout my life, I’ve lived one sad story after another. I’ve been a victim more times than I can count. I grew up learning how to survive on my own. I watched my family pass away one by one. Every time, there was another legal battle between relatives over how assets would be distributed. By the time I was 9 years old, I wasn’t even allowed to see my cousins at Christmas. A few years later, my parents divorced over debt issues, and I learned a lifelong lesson about mixing money and relationships.