frustrated

i am frustrated with the older people on this site.

yes, i am young. 22 going on 23. according to some of the older people i haven't experienced enough of life. my opinions and views are skewed because of my age. well, aren't theirs as well?

let me enlighten you. my parents divorced when i was 3. my stepdad was emotionally and physically abusive. i couldn't do anything right. i came home with straight a's and i was told i wasn't good enough to get a +'s. he had a 2x4 that he drilled holes into that he used to beat me with. he made everything that went wrong my fault, thus alienating me from my brothers.

i struggled with severe depression at an early age. by the time i was 13 i had tried to kill myself several times. i had a heroin addiction by the age of 12. i kicked said addiction at 14 by being four pointed for 7 days, unable to eat, unable to move, simply sweating the drug and the withdraws out of my system. this decision came after my best friend flung himself out of a closed window. he was in a coma for 6 months, before the decision finally came to take him off of life support. i watched them pull the plug.

i got pregnant with my first child when i was 16. i struggled for nine months with the choice between attempting to be a mother or adoption. a month after he was born i realized that i couldn't give him the life i wanted for him and i gave him up for adoption. i stared into my sons eyes as i handed him over to his new family. i defy any parent to tell me that was not, by far, the hardest thing i have ever done.

i had my second child at 19. no, i'm not stupid. i know how babies are made. i had been on birth control for 2 years. we used condoms. sometimes contraception fails. i am now a single mother. my ex occasionally pays support, but he is not otherwise involved. i am raising my daughter on my own. she will be 3 this month. she has the vocabulary of a 5 year old. she problem solves. she is funny and endearing to anyone who meets her. she is sweet and kind. she is creative and inspiring. but i do struggle. in this lovely economy, i struggle. but i sacrifice, for her. i don't have the nicest things, or the latest clothes, but she has toys to play with and expand the mind and food on the table and a roof over her head.

i have been through a lot in my life. it has not been easy. but i still take it with a grain of salt. i smile through the hard times and trust in myself to make them better. i am truly optimistic. i almost always have a kind word. i genuinely care for people. i have overcome all obstacles placed in my way, and i will continue to do so.

so i ask you, before you judge someone on their age, why not step back, and find out who they really are?