Dedication: To my old self. Keep going. You got this!
Hi My name is Chris but my friends call me Chrissie. This is my story….
I am one of 5 children 2 sisters, 2 brothers, I am the middle child. Growing up I was a teen mom that broke through boundaries and graduated high school with two beautiful little girls despite being thrown out of my childhood home by my father. So I had to grow up real fast. My life was never easy and coming from a hispanic background not many things were taught to me by your mother, matter of fact she was a young mother so didn’t know much about teachings of motherhood either. I only lived to survive not to succeed, not to plan for a future . If you asked me what I wanted to do with my life I would just answer “I don’t know.”I grew up in an abusive situation with my daughters father and I was to prideful to ask to beg to go back home so I made my way working odd jobs. I finally landed a job as a receptionist with a company who then gave me a shot at becoming a case worker. One day the boss asked me If I could do anything in life what would it be. I told her I would help someone. She asked how? I told her it didn’t matter. However they needed help that day. I went on to be hired as a Case Coordinator for 11 years helping the mentally disabled.
During my life I didn’t just have one struggle I had many. Everyday was different. Abuse,Mental,Stress,Financial,Emotional, depression I can go on forever and you never know what kind of day someone is having. I never made it to college but I lived it so I don’t need a degree to tell you that a simple talk, smile, I hope you have a wonderful day goes a long way. I wish I could make a difference in people’s lives. I applied at The Department of Human Services and was there for 10 years. Everyone said how could you stand it there with those people who abuse the system. I would say not everyone does it. I was behind those walls once and I was humiliated walking in and asking for help. So please do not pass judgement. I left because of the way the county treated the employees. We were over worked and it made things really hard for caseworkers to do our job accurately. Worst thing I ever did was leave. Now I can’t help anyone because society says if you have no paper that says you didn’t pay thousands of dollars to get an education than your not qualified to give advice or not right for any job in that field. I have known lots of case workers who have come to me who are educated and have their degree and still have no idea how to handle situation.
I will leave you with this life lessons are sometimes more important than anything written in a book. That is where books are made from. If you can make a difference in one persons life do it. We all need to make this world a better place. I am 50 years old and still trying to find my purpose and I will never give up!
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Photo credit: Photo provided by the storyteller.
