The Life I Live Today

I had a conversation with someone on Friday that really made me think about what it's like to still be alive. We were just catching up, and the subject came to the time I spent lost in the foster care system...she said "Wow what an amazing life you've had'. I was like who me? No. It just never seems any different from everyone else's life until I really think about it. Even then, there are people who have survived and had a worse life than I have. It's not really about that though. It's not about whose was worse or who survived more. It's about surviving it, healing from it, and LIVING. I don't judge my life based upon the bad things I've survived, I judge it by the good things I have done and experienced. I have had so many amazing things happen and so many good people in my life! My parents came to NYC from Colombia before I was born, they gave me a great life while they could. They were killed in a car accident when I was two. I spent 14 years (age 2-16) in foster care. I ran away when I was 16, and started my own life. I lived in a run down place with my friend and her parents, I worked in a strip club using a fake ID, and I dropped out of high school. That didn't last long though. I got my GED, became a Nursing Assistant and starting taking classes to become and LPN when I was 18. It took me until I was 23 but I did it, I became an RN! That is the best thing that ever happened to me. Foster care was horrible. I was beaten and molested. The other kids were horrible as well! It was good to get out. I met Jess in the middle of all that, she was the love of my life! She supported me through my rape, I lost her sadly. Through everything, being a nurse has been my ticket out. It has gotten me where I am today. My friends and family are so awesome, there are no words to describe them. If that's what an amazing life is, I'm glad I have been given the life I live today!