Sharing Our Innermost Thoughts

I want to tell you my story. I am a 16-year-old girl who lives in a small town in Texas. Growing up my mother and father were cocaine addicts. My dad was sentenced to 14 years in state prison when I was six years old. My mother fell into depression and abandoned my three siblings and I multiple times. She would come back for at least three days and then leave for months. My little sister and I would stay with my grandma and friends from time to time. Years went by and my dad got out on parole and my mom found another boyfriend. My sister and I went to live with my mother, but we moved to a lot of different places since none of her relationships lasted. When I turned 15, she introduced me and my sister to hardcore drugs like cocaine, crack, and even meth. She said it was okay and it wasn’t bad, so I did a lot of drugs with them. Almost a year later I got tired of it and I hated the way it made us look, so I tried to get them to stop with me, which didn’t last long. I knew my mother was too caught up in it, so I decided to leave with my dad and get cleaned up. When I told her she immediately started to beat me, so I curled up in a ball and tried to protect myself. I yelled at her to stop and my little sister walked in and jumped in and started hitting and kicking me telling me not to be yelling. After I was beaten my mother told me awful things and had someone watch me so I couldn’t run away. When they took a trip somewhere I managed to get out and I didn’t stop running till I got to my friend’s house. In tears, I tried to tell her mom what happened but she ended up telling me to take a hike and didn’t want anything to do with the situation. I was on the street for hours with no phone or any of my belongings. I knocked from house to house till someone let me borrow their phone. I called my stepmom and she told me to go to the police so my aunt could pick me up. I was there for hours to the point where I fell asleep. My aunt and the officers took pictures of the bruises that were left on my body. When my mother came in she started yelling and told her part of the story. She told them I went at my sister and all she did was slap my sister and me. One of my sister’s friends were there and lied to them saying I was lying. I left with my aunt and she drove me six hours away to my dad’s house. He and his family got me into therapy and got me a drug counselor and put me on the right path. In four months, I will be a year drug-free. I got back into school and now I just don’t want to mess up again.

I hear how painful that is through your words. There are a lot of people who also deal with this. There is nothing to be ashamed of, it affects a lot of us.

You’ve exhibited great courage in taking the first step by reaching out. By explaining what you’re undergoing, you have identified the potential markers of where this pain is coming from and this is extremely important.

In an odd way but in a good way - I found your life to be inspiring. All that you’ve been thru and to still stand tall day after day facing whatever life throws at you requires real bravery. So Thank You for sharing your life story with us.

You won’t mess this up. We’re here for you. I’ll keep a lookout for your user handle when you post. But please don’t ever feel that you’re alone. You are an amazing human being and sometimes we just need to be reminded of that from time to time.