1ST PLACE WINNER

Author: MORGAN

I’m a typical fifteen year old Sophomore in High School. I play soccer and enjoy my friends and my life. I have a stable home life. I have a mom and dad and grandparents and aunts and uncles that love me but, I am not related to any of them. Let me explain. Life was not always typical for me. I am adopted.

My biological mother was addicted to Meth and because of her addictions she made bad choices. I ended up in foster care as a toddler. She was trading me to dealers for drugs. I don’t have any memories of that and I am thankful but, her life choices changed the direction of my life forever.

The year after I was placed in foster care, she was arrested for armed robbery and my brother was born in prison. I missed out on the fun of growing up with a brother close to my age. I missed out on knowing any of my other brothers and sisters that were born after him.

My biological mom’s life has always been a cycle of addiction and arrests and jail time. She no longer has custody of any of my siblings and I will likely never know them or have the normal sibling relationships that most people have in life. I will never have relationships with biological grandparents. I do not know them. I do not know where they come from. I do not know family traditions that they shared. I do not know relatives that I should know.

I do have a relationship with my brother that was born in prison. His adoptive parents live in Shreveport and we have been able to see each other a couple of times a year but, it’s not the same as having a brother that lives with you every day. Even though I know he is my brother, our lives went in different directions from the very beginning and that just changes things.

Addiction changes things. Addiction ruins lives. Addiction tears apart families. Addiction leaves many questions. There will always be questions that will never have answers. Addiction still affects my life in many areas. My three year old niece lives with us now. She is also a victim of addiction. Her parent’s choices led to an unstable home and now her choices have been taken away. She will not have Christmas morning memories or birthdays with her mom and dad. She will have them with us. She will have many questions. She will wonder why drugs became so important to them just like I did. She will miss her mom and dad and they will miss out on her life and her many firsts just as my mother missed out on mine.

Don’t get me wrong, I am better off than I would have been had I not been put into state custody but her choices as an addict ultimately became my choices because just like my niece, my choices were taken away due to addiction. Everyone loses their choices when they become addicted because addiction makes your choices for you.