I turned to the streets for acceptance as I didn’t feel like I belonged at home. As soon as I could, I was out and wreaking havoc in the streets with a group of kids who were like me. Unsupervised children left to figure it out while our parents were at work trying to make money to provide. It wasn’t anybody’s fault or idea. It was life!

I learned a lot about street life and even made my first dollar out there. I didn’t like many people because my experience was that people made fun of me for being fat. I hated myself and everyone else. It all started because I was bullied at home and then at school! I soon became the bully. I figured I’d make them too scared to bully me. I was big and mean. People soon started to talk to me and I was praised for fighting people. And I was good at it, too! I started to hang out with the oddballs and trouble makers. We all understood each other. There weren’t many girls but I didn’t care as I didn’t like other girls anyway.

I started using drugs. Pills and marijuana and anything that would change my mood when remembering how ugly life was without them. Reality was ugly so why not hang out with the neighbors that made money, listened to cool music, and didn’t go to school? They were my friends. They understood me.

I had three sisters to look after. I understood the game and how to play it. I made my sisters stay inside. They were skinny and so beautiful, and boys loved the sight of them. I had to make sure they were safe. When mom and dad got home late at night, everybody was to be inside, bathed, and ready to go to school in the morning. I wasn’t going to school but my sisters were.

Then I ended up making a decision that would change my life forever. I was charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and had to serve 5 years in the penitentiary!

I learned everything there! How to cook, clean, organize and I went to school and got my GED. I also endured a lot of pain and learned how the system ran. There was good and bad and I knew my part. I already had children and they were being raised by my parents and the parents of my daughters’ father. Things were falling apart.

I am now out and have been for two years. I can only strive to be a better me by getting involved in the system that ran me for so long. I met an amazing woman through the internet and Facebook brought us close! Catherine Burnette, she is an Angel! She helped motivate me to be the best I can be and she said I needed to tell my story!

One of my times going to rehab, I read a book that changed the way I thought about life! It is called “The Secret”, the law of attraction. I love this book! I’m still not where I want to be but I am definitely not where I used to be. I have grown in ways that are unexplainable and all I want to do is help others. It is the key to life. I believe that people need people. I will do all I can to help myself and as many others as I can during the remainder of my life. Everybody matters and everybody is worth it so I will do my best to help all.

I managed to make it out of prison and off parole. I now am in charge of my life and work alongside the best company ever. I am a Sr. Associate at LegalShield and love the work I do. I help people while continuing to help myself. I love my life and my three beautiful daughters and I am happy and proud to say that today I am an independent woman. I am a mother with a troubled past, looking forward to helping others understand that they can bounce back from anything if they believe in themselves! Thank you!