I Am Not My Inheritance

by Anonymous

While I was close to my mom growing up, my father was emotionally absent and only seemed happy when he was highly intoxicated. Like a ghost, he came and went. I only saw him briefly before he left for work and after he came home, or during the weekends as he binge drank in the living room.

Winning Essays From the 24th Annual Awards for Youth in Foster Care

On June 1, 2022, Represent magazine and Youth Communication celebrated the outstanding writing, persistence, and achievements of 10 young people at the 24th Annual Awards for Youth in Foster Care. Each winner received a prize of $1,100 and recognition of their writing, resiliency, and service to others. 

Breaking Free of My Mom to Be My Real Self

by Miles Dale

I first realized that my mom’s violence wasn’t normal one day when I was 7. My mom got drunk, which I’d seen before. I’d seen her physically attack people too, but this time was worse. She pulled me out from underneath the couch by my ponytails.

Letting Go of the Illusions

by K.G.

Names have been changed. My father died when I was 12, after years of fighting cancer. Toward the end, when he was very sick, I wanted to give him all my love. It was easier to do that by shutting out things he’d done to my mom in earlier years.

Not Safe Enough to Feel It All

by Olivia A.

When I was very little, my father, Troy, beat me, but not my older sister or my mother. He chose me because he didn’t think I was his child. He’d scream, “You’re not mine; you’re too light-skinned!” He did abuse my mother in other ways, though: He would push her and yell degrading things at her, and keep her from protecting me when he went off on me.

Drugs Come First for My Mom

by Anonymous

My mother’s primary relationship has been with drugs my whole life. If she wasn’t selling it, she was doing it. I spent the first four years of my life living in a trap house in Brooklyn, where my mother sold drugs and guns.