Brooke Saltar

Fifty-four percent of children in the U.S. live without both parents. Junior Brooke Saltar, who lost her father on Christmas Eve in 2007, is one of those, as her family was forever altered on that day more than 10 years ago.

“I was pretty young when my dad died,” Saltar said. “I remember looking at other kids and thinking my family was broken.”

However she is not alone, as 1.5 million other children are living within a single-parent household due to the loss of the other parent.

“Living without a father has become my new normal since I have spent less than half of my life with him,” Saltar said. “The unwavering strength and faith of my mother is entirely reflected upon how my family turned out to be.”

Without a father figure to help guide Saltar and her three siblings, the children of her family had to step up in his place.

“My siblings and I had to learn to be more independent in helping ourselves and become team players when it came to serving our mom,” Saltar said. “We understand each other’s struggles and help each other in an almost parental way.”

Saltar often relives memories of her past; memories of her father.

“My favorite part of the day growing up was during dinner, where my mom would have just gotten out the plates and set the table, about the time my dad would always get home from work,” Saltar said. “My brothers, sister, and I would always jump from the kitchen table and hug him, but since my dad’s death we don’t really even have family dinners anymore.”

Although Saltar has learned to cope through the help of her brothers and sister, she has not fully recovered.

“It’s been 10 years and there are days when I can still feel the pain as strong as the morning I first found out,” Saltar said. “Throughout the years comes healing and I have made significant progress in learning to deal with grief.”