Came to Connie Maxwell in June 2010

When I first came to Connie Maxwell, I was very frightened. I honestly didn’t want to come to Connie Maxwell. My family moved around a lot, and I was often bullied when I went to a new school.

When my grandparents told me and my brothers we would be moving again, it didn’t really surprise me because we were never in one place very long.

Connie Maxwell has really helped me through the years. I feel that God has really prepared me for what’s in store. Don’t get me wrong, the first few years I hated living at Connie Maxwell and wanted to go back to my grandparents, doing what I used to do, which was mostly just getting into trouble.

I was at Robert Black Cottage and stayed there for about five and a half years—the hardest cottage to live in. Ms. Glossie and I bumped heads on a lot of things for a long time. For the first two years, I couldn’t stand her, but now she is one of the few ladies that I hold dear to my heart. I now see all the things she was teaching me back then, and it has changed me for the better.

Ever since I moved to Connie Maxwell, my family has gotten bigger, because I consider everyone at Connie Maxwell my family. I especially want to thank Mr. Dan Walters, who is like a father to me and helped me through a lot of tough times. I also want to thank Mr. Ron Amerson and Ms. Lauren Tucker, who pushed me to be greater than I ever thought I could be. I am so thankful for my grandparents. They took three lost, scared, hurt, and lonely kids and did their best to raise us.

I can remember before we came to live with our grandparents, we used to go to school hungry. Our school would give out brown bags with breakfast in them each morning. I was always hungrier than anyone else, so I would try and get in line first, but since I was often bullied, I would be pushed to the back of the line. My teacher saw that I was a very troubled child and didn’t have much food, so she would tell the lunch lady that we had two extra kids in the class and would give those brown bags to me.

My grandparents helped get us out of situations like these and helped me get to where I am today. I could never thank them enough.

I thank God for the people that He put in my life and for showing me that everything does happen for a reason. God says everything will be beautiful in its own time, even if you can’t see it right then. Don’t worry, because it will happen. Just give it time.