Looking back at my life, one thing stands out, the struggle. Learning how to make do with a little of nothing and be thankful for the crumbs from others table was hard. I grew up in a harsh environment. There was physical, mental, and sexual abuse. This type of environment teaches you to use the most primal survival skills.
I remember watching mom get up at three o'clock in the morning everyday to walk to work. She worked at the Columbus city courthouse. No matter the weather she was always there. Every day like clockwork she was there regardless of the weather getting it in.
I remember seeing her wrap her hands in old socks to stay warm. Her shoes were running over from walking so many miles. I didn't understand at first, but time and error have shown me that she did what she knew to do for her children. It was her way of showing us she loved us the only way she knew how.
I ended up doing the same thing for my children, following in her footsteps. Just like we took mom for granted my children did the same to me, take me for granted. I worked to provide a better life than I was able to afford as a child. My mom showed me that having children was a full-time job that you wanted to do, because the reward was priceless. The heartache and pain of a childbirth was only a prelude of what was to come, yet it's more than worth the indescribable joy and pride. When you can see how well they turn out.
July twenty-fifth nineteen eighty, I found a reason to live and to strive. His name is Alandrew Ed Rodrick Jones, He was five ponds and three ounces, red wrinkled and squirming. The true beginning of my adult journey. I wasn't alone anymore. I had someone to love me.