Congrats!! I’m back in AL now, so always know if she is this way for college there is a doper over here in Birmingham if you need it!
Is your niece still together with her Sane Boyfriend, the one with the brave mom who got her out of that house? If I understand correctly, her boyfriend is still in AL.
Thanks for the uplifting thread! In my line of work, I see a lot of broken kids… but it is amazing just how resilliant they can be.
Kudos to you and your family… and especially your niece!
I sniff appear to have something in my eye…
Congrats. Some of the details in the OP were a bit harrowing, so I’m glad one life got pulled out of that wreckage.
A good family support system is really The Key™ when it comes to saving troubled kids from these kinds of backgrounds. Do not underestimate your own contributions to making her graduation and college attendance possible. Sometimes the best element of good parenting is simply removing obstructions to a child’s natural growth. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT, you don’t even know.
Unfortunately, I speak from experience here. A female cousin of mine was in a very rough situation growing up, with multiple abusive stepdads and a manipulative, mentally ill, fucking batshit insane mother. My mom had temporary custody of her after a stabbing incident (my aunt attempted to stab her husband but missed and stabbed herself instead). Unfortunately my aunt won custody back (due to the inaction of a social worker who, I suspect, was the least-attentive CPS employee in the history of the world). Long story short, my cousin dropped out of high school, turned to drugs and alcohol, had three kids outside of marriage before age 21, and is currently in jail at age 23 for identity theft of an elderly woman.
My cousin’s situation is a more common end to this kind of story than your niece’s. Be proud of yourself AND her. =)
Shelli, thank you! She is enrolled here in Jackson, but she may end up over in AL, you never know.
Maastrict, that relationship didn’t survive the long-distance aspect but he and his family are still good friends with her. His mom is one of my FB friends. I will be forever grateful to her for calling the police that day and fighting for my niece.
You’re right, as a fifty-somthing grandmother I couldn’t possibly already know this. 