“Act Normal”: Adoption to Prison

Act normal…what the hell does that mean? Seriously? “Act” normal…act? What is normal anyways? Let me take you down memory lane for a moment…

At the age of 5, I was told I was adopted. Not because my “parents” told me out of love. I asked them because my sister had told me our parents, well, were not out parents. I was confused and had no idea what adoption meant. I wish I had never asked.

When asked about my adoption, I was met with harsh resistance. I will never forget that day or moment. Act normal or else…

Neglected, beaten, and abused…I was expected to act normal. Don’t say a fucking word. Take it. Parents sent me to a juvenile detention center for “Insubordination”…that experience alone should have changed my life forever, but it didn’t. Detention was beyond human, but once out…smile in front of the neighbors. Don’t let them know your life is fucked up. I had no one to turn to…I was alone.

Down the road, I went to prison. The horrors one will see in prison would make the toughest man or woman wince. But, once we have supposedly paid our price to society, we are expected to figure it all out upon release. You are “free” now, right? Act normal…forget the decades you have lost to abuse, prison, and punishment.

I am not unique in my story. Hell, I have heard worse…much worse, but each experience may be different but the results are the same. I may not be “normal”, but I have a trail in my life that almost led to my destruction several times. I haven’t had a normal life…I doubt I ever will, but I’m trying.