The "years that shaped me" is a narrative about a young boy who is initially 5 years old at the time and lives with his grandparents, who are the only people he knows to be in his life. Life is good, and there is peace and love in his world, but it all suddenly changes the moment his mother appears from nowhere and takes him away; leaving him in the care of some relatives whose hearts were cold. He is astounded to learn that he has a mother because no one has ever mentioned it to him. Not long after that, his mother vanishes into thin air after abandoning him with another relative, and she is never seen again. The five-year-old boy matures and begin to attend school, but the grimmest storms have already begun in his tender life. The family that he has abandoned to, continuously treats him like an outsider; they forced him to plow the fields and has to work hard to earn a slice of bread; and at some point, they punish him with “no food today” as means of punishment. After weeks going by with no food in his stomach and being told to die, sleeping out in the coldest winters, he finally attempts to end it by taking his own life, but he is unsuccessful. He tries to flee but keeps returning to the same place. He is constantly trapped. Moving from house to house to escape his plight, but practically; everyone tries to exploit him. The only thing he is in search of is safety, acceptance, warmth, and love. Dropping out of school, being physically assaulted at home, and also being bullied at school; he feels lost.