I am familiar with pain.
I was born as the result of rape. My childhood was marked by molestation from a trusted family member between the ages of five and twelve. As a teenager, I became a runaway and endured continued abuse.
Despite the trauma, I experienced great joys. I became a mother to three beautiful children:
Struggling with emotional pain and abuse, I turned to drugs for relief. I began using crack cocaine at 17 and battled addiction for years. I even used drugs alongside my mother and sold my body to support our addiction.
But one day, I realized something life-changing:
The love I was searching for had been within me all along.
That realization changed everything.