Not edgy enough to score dope.
Backstory
I drive by the area and can spot them all, lined up or in a huddle.One of the places is near my bank so of course I try most often to use the bank across town.
It’s a bit ironic, my foster family used to manufacture and I was a dealer in my teens and junkie for awhile in my 20’s into early 30's. It’s a good thing, I’ve been sober over 12 years and I can tell by the sketchy lot of ‘em, they don’t have ice/meth here anyhow.
That’s one way to stay clean ;-)
by ba_miracle in Six-Word Memoirs on Feb 10, 2013 | 
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T-shirt
Comments
ShellDeFelice says,
A foster family manufacturing drugs... real life is more atrocious than any fiction. I do some work in dependency court as a Casa. It is always my biggest fear that the child I am trying to help will go from one horror to another. Ba-miracle, you're creativity is stellar and so needed. I am happy you found a way to safety and sanity.ba_miracle says,
So happy to see a CASA supporter.I know you wouldn't understand this at all but that foster home is the one that actually became my family (dysfunction and all;-). They were not a foster placement. My friends mom took me off the streets my mom became my foster mom when I was 16. Social services didn't know what to do with me anymore...a runner (semi-sweet) delinquent.
Oh the stories I could tell you about endless foster placements (but you would be one of the few people to actually know the truth in the "stories" others wouldn't be able to believe.)
ShellDeFelice says,
Family is just a place with an anchor, right? Even if the home is anchored in dirty muck. The beauty in your history is that you saw an outstretched hand and stepped up out of the path of complete loss. Your story gives me hope. You are right, I have seen and heard things that don't sound believable when repeated. I need to remember that a sliver of light can be followed, even if you have to start the path crawling your way out.xoxo
ba_miracle says,
I'd have to say it didn't start out that way. My mom had been a foster child as well and a struggling single mom making us go to church every Sunday when I moved in. She had the right amount of street smarts and sweetness to make me listen.I wasn't heading any good place. My first placement had been a disaster, that set a really bad tone for me and began a cascade of bad experiences (and behavior) The best one after that was the Children's Home in Gilroy (but you "graduate" from there).
I'd say they were just dysfunctional enough for me to fit in at that point.
She got caught up with the wrong man ...a criminal to the core. Eventually they were raided and they parted ways. She spent the rest of her life being very involved with AA and all those types of programs. Some of my family still struggle with addiction and some are winning.
It's tough sometimes to reconcile the different shades/flavors of reality I've experienced or in the very least to relay them more graciously because they just "were" for me.
For all of my moms technical flaws, she loved me long after the checks stopped coming ;-)until her last breath, so for that I was lucky and it made all the difference to the type of human being I strove to become.
Having lived a life on the shady side I still have people I love who I don't think will ever come over to the "bright" side (frustrating as he**).
P.S. There is no reason for me to be this sane, it drives me crazy ;-)
TY for the xo's and for being a children's advocate.
ShellDeFelice says,
I hope the present and future are only filled with all of your favorite people, places and things. Thank you for sharing this. Keep shining that beautiful beacon that you have become. We are often unaware of the positive impact that our journey can have on another.One sunbeam lights a room...one life can make a difference. Your mom's life was a mess but she didn't let that stop her from loving you and trying to help. Your story makes me cry and smile.