“It’s done; don’t let her get the best of you. Here, wipe your face,” as she reached for her towel. “Come on, let’s do this. You have to. You have no other choice.” She sat me on the toilet and wet the towel. As she wiped my face, I started…
“I went to bed, hoping our worries would go away with the night and the new light of the morning would bring my mom out of her slump and the stress out of her heart. School was my sanctuary. There was plenty of food at lunch, caring adults that had…
“We are all exactly the same, and yet totally different!! I am from an ultra-conservative family of nine children where I grew up lost in the shuffle and was thankful for the free lunch program at school as a child. I learned at an early age that I’d have to…
“Walking to the store for my mom was a common past-time of mine, starting as early as first grade. A note was written and change was handed over to me for cartons of cigarettes, stamps, milk, groceries, or whatever my little arms could carry.” Born and raised in northern California,…
