I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My upbringing was marked by situations that were not favorable to my development abandonment, bullying, and people who were supposed to take care of me but didn’t. I suffered physical, mental, and sexual abuse at a very young age. I stopped believing in adults. I grew up without values, only with guilt and a lot of pain that I never expressed.
After a romantic heartbreak at 15, I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned to substances to numb the pain I felt from the abandonment and rejection. One day I opened the gas valve and lay down. I just wanted the pain to disappear. That was my first attempt to end my suffering.
Today, through the education I am receiving in my rehabilitation, I have been taught to stop burying what I feel. To understand the root of my bad decisions. To forgive myself and forgive others. The past is very painful, but the result is more powerful when you begin to understand the great why. When you understand it, it becomes easier to make better decisions.
Today I am no longer part of the problem, but part of the solution.
I have found in art a passion that helps me bring joy to people and their families. Being here in prison, I encountered a person who impacted me with something that is not easy to find in these places, a person with great humility named Kain Velasques. Someone we admire for his teachings. To see him walk with that humble and compassionate personality toward us, if you wanted to greet him or ask for an autograph, he always said yes with a smile.
