A Different kind of Thanks

1. I’m thankful for becoming a teen mother. Why? If I didn’t become a mother at 17 years old to my beautiful daughter, along with birthing my son at 22 years old, than I might not have any children. When I was only 26 years old, I had to have an emergency hysterectomy to remove a softball sized mass connected to my ovary. During the procedure they learned it was connected to my colon. If I didn’t have Alexa & Jojo when I did, I don’t think I would have had much time to have any.

2. I am thankful for being alive. I suffered horrific domestic abuse, as a young mother. Howeve, a decade later I was brave enough to publish a fictional novel called “A Different Ending”, loosely based on my story. It’s fiction because I wanted survivors to connect to things & feel understood. I was physicall, sexually, mentally & emotionally abused. Today I take 6 pills daily to help me with nerve damage in my face due to no receiving medical attention for my jaw that was misaligned after being hit unconscious…BUT I am alive & even better I have helped countless domestic abuse victims become survivors! As a domestic abuse advocate, I find resources within communities, so victims can safely leave. This makes being alive, even better than imagined.

3. I am thankful for my husband. This man found me at such a vulnerable time in my life. I was broken after the traumas of abuse. He picked me up, but made sure I knew that I needed to pick myself up the rest of the way. He’s loved me when even I found it hard to do so. He adopted my daughter, who is our daughter. Her biological father signed off, when I escaped from him and that life. He isn’t A 50/50 man, he is an 80 if all I can be is 20 that day. He works hard & pitch in at home. He is a remarkable father & husband.

4. I am thankful for my mother and finally having the few years to be closer than ever, before she passed in 2020. We didn’t always have a good relationship. As I became a mother, I realized how hard she worked & I could never get through the things she was through. I always chose my Dad when he was around, probably because he wasn’t always around… great father when there, but not a good husband. I grew up around a lot of chaos. My mom and I just didn’t understand each other, although she spoiled us rotten with love and everything else. Granted, I loved never hearing no, but I realized money didn’t erase the violence or other things in the home when my parents were together. She was an amazing Nana and had my kids equal time that my husband and I did... just because she wanted them. She had eternal struggles bipolar, depression and later I learned PPD (type of schizophrenia), which you would never know. I love and loved my mother. I am so lucky to have had her, we all!

5. I am thankful to be thankful for anything in life or just my life overall. After a tumultuous childhood, a domestically abuse relationship as a teen mother, the losses I dealt with, my health issues at such a young age and everything else, I struggled to be thankful for anything beside my children! I realized how incredibly lucky I really am for the opportunities I’ve created for myself, the love I receive & everything that makes me smile. Never did I think I’d get the chance to have intriguing children, a published book, the ability to help people live life, an interview on a world wide platform about being a domestic abuse advocate or write (I tried including the interview, but it wouldn’t let me. Figured it would bring these reasons to life). I’ve weathered more bad storms than good, but that’s what taught me to value the sunshine, no matter how dim or bright. I’m just thankful for my life, as a whole… I hope this is an acceptable for a 5th reason, although cliché.