I’ve always felt emotions so deeply, seemingly much more than others. Anxiety found me even as a child. I’d cry hysterically to my mom because I was afraid of death and feel sick to my stomach for weeks before sleep away camp. Once my teenage years hit, the darkness of depression started to seep in. These intense emotions were frightening, and so I hid them away. Read more »

Like many people my age, I come from a blended family. There’s my mom, step-dad, step-sister, my two brothers and me. I was six when my mom got remarried and I am now 22. While it was challenging growing up in a blended family, it was rewarding, too. Looking back now, I wouldn’t trade my situation because, in the end, it gave me my family, and I wouldn’t change my family for anything in the world. Read more »

I was asked to write an article for the “Stories that Inspire” section of this website. Wow. I never thought I would have made it to a point where I could inspire and be in a position where I could share my story. I have no way of telling how you wandered to this site and then this article, but I hope you find the support you’re looking for, as well as the words you need to hear to carry on. Read more »

Raised by parents who struggled with drug addiction, in an environment where abuse was rampant, I lived a childhood filled with setbacks, heartbreak and challenges. At 11, my dad beat my mom in the early hours of the morning and left for Cali and shortly thereafter ended up in prison. Read more »

I was in the 4th grade the first time someone called me the ‘n’ word. It was a teacher. At the time, I didn’t know what the word meant, but I remember going home and telling my family and the shock that swept over my mother’s face when I said it. Read more »

You can pretty much guarantee another baby.” I’m eavesdropping as I sit next to a girl talking to her friend on how to game the government benefits we are all here to collect. It’s a monthly check under a program called WIC (Women Infant and Children program) for moms that don’t make enough money to take care of themselves and their baby, or babies if you follow the advice of the girl next to me. It pays for things like formula and peanut butter. Read more »

My name is Mary Kominska and the story of my life may sound like something out of a novel or tabloid magazine. I say this because I have survived. Read more »

I was 17. It was another hot and humid summer evening and as usual my friends I were “partying”. Nothing that regular teenagers didn’t do at that time in the early 80’s. We always partied at the neighbors house because her mom worked the night shift and let’s be honest the rest of the parents would have never allowed that many teenagers in one house at one time. Read more »