I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir but it just never comes together for me but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order, I'll just write them as they come to me.
My 9th and 10th grade of high school
In 9th and 10th grade I went to Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, Ca and I was 15 and 16 years old. By this time my grandpa who we had been living with had died of cancer and Larry had died by suicide. My mom met a new guy named Jose Salazar. Jose had been going to college to become a doctor when he crashed his motorcycle and lost part of his skull and had some brain damage. He walked with a limp and had seizures. According to his mom, he wasn't the same smart man he had been before the accident and it was pretty obvious. But he was so lucky, had a second chance at life and could have gone on to lead a productive life. But instead, he chose drugs. The man did cocaine and smoked cigarettes dipped in PCP. He got my mom hooked on those drugs as well and things got really bad. He had won some kind of settlement because of his accident and had something like 1 million dollars that his mother was in charge of. But she gave him money whenever he asked for it and that's how he and my mother were able to get the drugs so often.
My mom and he ended up in jail a few times and she would call me from jail and tell me she would be home in a few days when he posted bail and he always did. I took care of my brother who was 2 years younger than me and we went to school or stayed home during the Summer. I was baby sitting and would buy food when there was none. Jose was paying the other bills. One night Jose and my mom got pulled over and she had a PCP dipped cigarette in her purse and he told her to eat it. So she did but while the officer was doing the stop, my mom started acting crazy and they realized that she was overdosing on something. They were both arrested and they took her to the ER. The hospital called my grandma and she took me to the hospital to see my mom. She was handcuffed to the bed and had a breathing tube in her mouth and another tube in her nose to pump her stomach. My mom was arrested when she got better and my grandma came to stay with us for a few days until both my mom and Jose got out of jail. I don't know what happened in court a couple of months later when they went but Jose said something about paying a fine and them being done with court.
Things went on like that for months and then the police came and raided my apartment after my uncle Jack talked my 14 year old brother into calling the cops. My mom and Jose were arrested and my brother and I ended up in foster care. My mom did 6 months in Sybil Brand Institute (jail) for drug paraphernalia, child neglect, child endangerment and being under the influence of drugs. I don't know how long Jose got since I never saw him again. I'll talk more about foster care next month.
Links to past stories
2023
she had a PCP dipped cigarette in her purse and he told her to eat it
ReplyDeleteGaaack. The kind of behavior drugs lead to. She was risking her life in an effort to avoid getting caught with drugs -- which probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Even if she hadn't started reacting to the PCP, a drug-sniffing dog would likely have been able to pick up the trace smell of it from her purse. Thank goodness she survived.
I'm actually surprised she survived some of the things she did.
DeleteI had no idea you were ever in foster care. What a horrible time you had. Your grandma didn’t take you?
ReplyDeleteMy grandma was having health problems at the time so she couldn't.
DeleteThanks for sharing. Your stories carry a lot of pain and sadness and I hope by writing them they help you make sense of an often crazy world.
ReplyDeleteIt does help to share some of these things.
DeletePoor Mary and you survived.
ReplyDeleteI did.
DeleteYou have to write a biographical book! Both for your sake and for the world's sake.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one of these days I will.
DeleteWow! That is a lot for anyone to have to deal with. I'm glad you could be there for your brother and that you were able to move on eventually.
ReplyDeleteThings got better years later. Both of my parents stopped drinking and doing drugs for a while so that was good.
DeleteYeah, Jose's life was a sad waste. Had an uncle like that and one of his sons got hooked from him. I'm so glad you had your grandmother, but also that you were strong enough not to get hooked into that too.
ReplyDeleteI never did any drugs and I rarely drink alcohol. My brother has been sober for 2 years.
DeleteWow, that's rough. How long were you and your brother in foster care? It is really too bad that Jose wasted his life with all that drug use, and that his own mother facilitated it by giving him money like that. Even sadder that he got your mom hooked on drugs.
ReplyDeleteMy brother was in foster care for about three months. I was in for a few months longer than that.
DeleteHi Mary. I'm another Mary. I am so sorry to hear you went through so much. Drugs and alcohol are devastating. I never went into foster care, but I was one of the original latch key kids back in the day. My dad was an alcoholic and my mom worked during the day and spent evenings with her boyfriend. I was left pretty much alone to raise myself from the time I was about 8 years old.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a lot of us had those kinds of experiences back then.
DeleteThank you for sharing your story. I know it couldn't have been easy.
ReplyDeleteIts easier now than of was back when I was living it.
DeleteYou sure survived a lot and that is something to be proud of!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteWow, Mary. What a story. So much to deal with and handle at such a young age.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I started sharing these stories because there's so many stories I could tell.
DeleteWow, what a harrowing story, Mary! A parent is supposed to look after their children, but it sounds like you were left to do that. Too bad your mother's BF didn't do something good with all that money instead of getting your mother, a woman who needed to be present for her children, hooked on drugs. I'm happy this is in the past for you, Mary! You've endured so much!
ReplyDeleteHe could have done so much good with his money. He had a young daughter too that he never saw because of the drugs.
DeleteThat's some heavy stuff you shouldn't have had to endure as a child. Some people shouldn't have the privilege of being parents.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you.
DeleteWhat a sad story! I'm glad you survived it.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteOh for crying out loud, when I thought it couldn't get any worse. I'm bracing myself for the foster care part now. You've led quite the life, and didn't ask for any of it. At least you got a few happy years with Ken, though you lost him too soon. And you've grown up to become a great mom and grandma. Sending hugs...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Roberta.
DeleteWow, that's quite a rollercoaster of a story. It takes a lot of strength to share such personal experiences. It must have been incredibly challenging to go through all of that during your high school years. You've shown incredible strength in overcoming so much adversity.
ReplyDeleteHugs and blessings
Thank you so much.
DeleteIt will be getting worse? Scary
ReplyDeleteSome stories are worst but I try to throw in a few fun ones as well.
Delete