There once was a girl. This girl was about six years old. She was just a child, innocent and happy. She loved life, had plenty of friends and wanted to make everyone happy. She knows that she is different from the other kids, but she doesn’t know how. All she knows is that she goes and visits her mom every Friday and her dad every Saturday. She doesn’t live with her real parents, but she has a family who loves her. This is the girl's story…

It was a typical Friday, going to school and then going over to her mom’s house. After she had finished her day at Kindergarten, she was looking forward to going to her mom’s house. She came home, got changed and put her shoes on. She waits for her little sister to get ready. Since her sister is only two, she helps her get ready for their visit. She gets into the car and waits excitedly for her not real dad to drive her over.

As the green minivan approaches the driveway of the rundown trailer, the girl leaps out of the car running toward the front door. Her little sister soon follows after as their not real dad pulls away. She opens the unlocked door and calls after her mother. Her sister runs to her room to play with her Care Bear collection. Not hearing to response from her mother the girl decides to go search for her. She searches in the kitchen for her, but no luck. She looks in the bathroom. Empty. She looks in every room in the house, and the it dawned on her that her mother might be in her bedroom

As she peaks open the door she calls for her mother. She turns on the light and sees her mother sleeping. Not wanting to disturb her mother she shuts the door softly, and turns on the TV. She puts on her favorite cartoon as her sister approaches and asks where mommy is. She tells her that they have to be quiet because their mother is sleeping. So they sit and watch cartoons for some time. When the clock reads 6:44 the girl's sister tells the girl that she is hungry. The girl also felt hungry and was wondering when their mother will make dinner.

The girl decides that she should wake her mother because she had been sleeping for several hours. She walks to her bedroom and opens the door. She turns the lights on the light to reveal her sleeping mother. She walks over to her mother to wake her. She gently shakes her mother awake. Her mother remains unresponsive. She tries again. Nothing. She calls her mother's name and shakes her harder, her mother's eyes open briefly and quickly close. Now the girl was worried. She didn’t know what was wrong with her mother. She was helpless. Alone.
She suddenly remembered the lesson that she learned about a week ago. A group of first responders had visited her school and shared what she should do in case of an emergency. She quickly grabs the phone and dials 9-1-1. The operator asks her what her emergency is. She tries to respond while she calms her frantic sister. She gives the woman her address and the situation, and the women tells her they will be there to help soon.

She tries to calm her whimpering sister and tell her it will be ok, but she can’t guarantee what will happen. She can’t even calm herself as she hugs her baby sister, while sobbing. Questions race through her mind. What is wrong with mommy? Will she wake up? What did I do wrong?

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This little girl has overcome a lot throughout her life. I know because I am that little girl.

At the time that this happened I didn’t realize what had happened. My mother had overdosed. When I was younger and people told me that is what happened I didn't really know what that meant. Now that I am a teenager and have do some research, I know how serious it is.

Sadly, this would not be the only time my mother overdoses, she overdosed again when I was 10. Luckily neither me or my little sister were with her to experience it. My mother still has a drug problem and is attempting to recover. As I look back I have bad memories with her, sometimes she doesn’t feel like my mother. She feels like a complete stranger, only getting to see her once every month. Nevertheless, I do love her she is my mother, even though she scares me. And the constant fear of her death hangs over me everyday.

I can use my mothers experiences to my advantage. I know not to do drugs. Not to put everything else before your kids. And most importantly, great mothers make great kids. I’ve made a promise to myself that I will keep. I will not give my kids a childhood that they need to recover from. I will be a mother.