Hi. Thanks to all. To say it was a rocky ride is a gross understatement. I'm the midget with the bangs. Hub wasn't in town...had to watch the dogs (yes, I know, it's sad), but my ex is the blond. Jumper and Sonic are the other two kids. Julie's boyfriend Geoff is the last person unaccounted for...lol. Julie (Pastry Chef) already has a job in the school's restaurant and does banquets and sometimes puts in ten hour days while she puts out five hundred pastries. Sometimes more. She got honors and high honors and they want her to go back to school so she can teach, but she is tired of school now. She worked a lot while going to school and is tired of school for now.
Ten years ago, Julie was snorting ADHD drugs and cocaine and using meth and even trying heroin. She also drank too much. She had three serious car crashes (not her own cars). One day she saw a friend with needle marks on her arms and thought, "That will be me." She quit and did not look back. There was no rehab or even treatment, but we did maker her leave, which prompted her to call her straight brother in Illinois to see if she could stay with him. He said ok, on the condition that she never break any of his rules. Getting away from her Wisconsin "friends" (cough) gave her the chance she needed to quit without being harassed. There was a long time before she had any friends in Illinois and s he was very lonely until she met Geoff. Her first job in Illinois, one of her brother's requirments, was at Subway where she had to walk to and from. She was eventually promoted to Manager.
I am very proud of her. I wasn't sure she'd live to see her twenty-first birthday. I know that many of you know how that feels. She is also proof that anyone can take a hard look at his/her life and say, "Not me." It may not happen as dramatically or as fast, but it can happen. Never give up. Keep The Faith!
