This is a weekly staple affording our readers the opportunity to share their personal testimony regarding abuse, violence, disease, family, happiness, faith, jail time, obesity, and/or mistakes made in their youth, just to name a few. Let your testimony be a blessing to someone else attempting to overcome a particular avenue in life.
I was born to two addicted parents. My father was not present most of the time and my mother rolled the car drunk when I was an infant. I had to wear a neck brace for 6 weeks and still suffer migraine headaches due to that injury. I also witnessed my mother overdose on cocaine a few years later; she ended up in a coma for 3 weeks. A couple of years later I was molested by my stepfather and accused by my mother of lying just to get attention. I was later raised by my mother’s oldest sister and my father’s parents, the three of them together were and are the best thing that could have happened to me. I have no idea where I would be if it were not for them. I would have more than likely ended up addicted, in jail or dead.
I ended up getting in some trouble in middle school, including fights, grades slipping and incidents involving the police. My aunt and grandparents were determined to ensure I wouldn’t end up like my parents. Therefore, Catholic school was where I needed to be; it was either that or an all girls’ boarding school in Scotland. I was spending some time around my bio mom and she was in deep using meth among other things. She shaved all the hair off of her body, took the cabinets off the walls and burned them because she believed her house was infested with “bugs.” She then went to jail for a while for stabbing her boyfriend with a butcher knife.
As a teen and in my early 20’s I ended up in a series of abusive relationships. I attempted suicide by taking pills and mixing them with alcohol a few times, only to wake up in the morning depressed that I had failed. Needless to say I was in a really dark place for a few years. I felt like I was incapable of being loved, truly loved and I wasn’t sure how to dig myself out of this hole. Somehow I managed to graduate college, meet an amazing man, win a state pageant and then go on to place first runner up at a national pageant.
I now own an assisted living facility for individuals suffering from mental and developmental disabilities. I am a stepmom to two boys (16 years old and a 5 year old) and my fiancée and I have adopted my 6-year-old niece. This due to the fact that her mother gave birth to her with meth and alcohol in her system and my brother is locked up for various charges.
I realized one day that only I could create the future I want for myself. I kept blaming people for how I felt. I was the one drinking the poison hoping all the others around me would fall ill. Once I understood that the power was mine and only mine I began to say no to things that would not move me closer to my goals, I began cutting out all the toxic people in my life one by one.
Anything is possible when you realize your life isn’t what you want it to be.
Your test is your testimony.
Written By: Jessica Fulton