Don't judge a book by its cover.

At first glance, you would see me as a white female with a decent job and someone who has their act together.  And to some individuals they would take that as "white privilege".  But honestly, that would be the furthest thing from the truth.

The truth is my skin might appear to be white, with a little tan.  My blood is mixed with several nationalities.  I'm Mexican, Indian, German, Norwegian and Sweden.  Not only that, it has taken me 40 years to get where I am at, and every day is still a struggle. 

I am a recovering meth addict who liked to drink.  I have been to jail several times and have 3 DUI's on my record.  I have 2 kids, one son who is about to graduate this year and one daughter who is in the second grade, with two different fathers.  My daughter doesn't even know her father.  He left us when I was pregnant.  He has never bothered to meet her and has never paid child support for her.

When my daughter was born, I had her taken away and put in foster care until I got my shit together.  And the dad to my son had restrictions put on me until I got my shit together.  I had lost everything including the trust and respect from my family.  

From that moment on, I have done nothing but work on myself and myself worth.  I worked hard go get my daughter back, which I did in record time (6 months).  Rehab was the best thing for me.  I had to work every day to earn back my families trust and respect.  I went back to college and got my Associates in pre-law.  Took a year off then enrolled at the U of W to work on my Bachelor degree in Criminal Justice. 

It has taken me 8 years to get where I am at today.  Every year got a little easier, but at first the criminal brain was there for a long time.  The urge to use and forget everything and everyone would have been so easy.  The love for my kids and family eventually took over, now there is nothing I wouldn't do for them.  

Addiction is not a choice, it is a disease.  A disease of the mind that doesn't just go away.  I am constantly keeping myself in check because if I don't I will fall and fall hard.  

So, when someone thinks I have it all, they have no idea that I had nothing and had to work for everything.  This was only possible with the help of my family and fully believing in my higher power to help me.

So, when I am judged at first glance I get a little defensive.  That is why, I will never judge a book by its cover.  I don't know their story.