By: Julia Solomonik

From the very beginning of my life, I never really had a place that I can actually call “home”. I never had a “happy home” like everyone else. The type of  “home” where kids would talk about how they have both of their parents in their life, how they would go outside to the park together, or to the movies, out to eat, and do family-like activities with each other. I never got to experience that. Unfortunately, growing up I had a broken home. A home where it was ripped into shreds and was torn into 1,000 different pieces. Each piece had its own reason as to why we weren’t considered a “happy home”. However, the biggest piece that stood out to me was because of alcohol. Alcohol was the main reason why me and my family split up. My father had a terrible addiction to alcohol. He would always drink and become drunk. Was hardly ever sober. However, some time down the line my mother decided to follow behind him. Making it worse. Slowly but surely it created an environment that quickly became very unsafe for me to be in. My life started to feel like a roller coaster. A roller coaster that was full of unexpected twists and turns that managed to change my life forever. Not knowing what I was about to face or get into. As a kid, I was placed into this system called “Foster Care”.  A type of system where kids of any age get taken into state custody and become placed with a state-licensed adult, who cares for the child in the place of their parent or guardian. 

Everything changed from the time that I was a year old, I was finally staying with my foster family permanently. They gave me everything that my actual parents couldn’t. They showed me what it’s like to feel loved, be appreciated, welcomed, and most importantly accepted. Accepted for who I was and for what I was dealing with. My foster mom knew that my father had an addiction. She knew that I was being neglected and pushed aside from the very start. Nonetheless, never did she ever not once push me aside

The foster mom that I was placed with, was the one who took care of me. Her placing me under her loving, sweet, and caring arms. Taking full responsibility and custody over me. Making sure that I had clothes to wear, shoes to put on, food to eat, a place to lay my head at night, and most importantly a home where I can finally feel like I can belong in. She made me feel loved, feel appreciated, welcomed, and at home. Because as a mother, it’s your job to make your child feel like they are at home. In a safe environment where no one can hurt them. It’s your job to protect them and to provide for them. Because you decided to bring them into this world, so it’s your job to take care of them when you’re supposed to. Not to leave them hanging and wanting to forget about them.