Hope for the Future!

It has been a busy week, I haven't had time to really sit back and relax.
I served as a judge this past week for a speech contest for the second annual
NW Regional MAAP STARS Competition.
It is an organization formed to assist the education of students who attend Alternative Schools.
I found this to be very rewarding, hearing the stories from these kids about their reasons for attending an Alternative School was at times heart wrenching.
One in particular grabbed me.
Elizabeth was your typical student up until High School.
One morning she woke up and just couldn't get her self out of bed.
She went from an outgoing, active, high achieving student, to a slacker.
As the months went by she found herself falling deeper into depression.
Finally it peaked,then she decided the only thing to do was to go to sleep and not wake up.
Thankfully there was someone there who rescued her from her suicidal attempt.
She was hospitalized for several weeks, diagnosed with OCD, Agoraphobia,Anxiety and Panic disorder along with her depression.
Medication eventually helped but she still couldn't handle the regular high school
It took some time before her Mother finally realized that she needed ALC.
Now as Senior she stood before us in the regional contest telling us of her pain, and how she had overcome it with the help of her Mom, who sat there with tears streaming down her face.
This was just one of the stories we heard,
I scored Elizabeth as my number one and another beautiful young woman Trini who spoke about her Immigration to the US as my Number two.

When the final results were announced they were reversed in order.
But only one point had separated the two on my score card.

I was approached to be a judge for the state finals but because of a conflict on the date, I declined.
I did tell them to call me in the future.

Elizabeth story hit close to home for me.

Last May my beautiful Great niece died from a drug overdose. She was bright, talented and suffering from depression.

On Wednesday I will be attending the trial for the drug dealer that sold her the heroin.
He refuses to plea bargain and all I can hope is that the jury hears the truth and puts him away, so maybe her death will result in saving somebody else.

Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers.