A lot of you do not know how it feels to go to sleep a nobody, with no sense of self-worth , and then wake up out of that nightmare with a new sense of life, feeling good about yourself, knowing that you
are SOMEBODY. Well, that’s my story.
I was brought up in a two-parent home with everything an average child needed. I graduated from Eastern High School. I had summer jobs at the Pentagon. After I graduated, I started working at the post office; that’s when it all started. I began hanging out with the wrong crowd: drugs, parties, and good times, as they say, are here to stay. WRONG! When I realized this, it was too late. Using God’s temple, my body, for everything but the right thing. The only thing left was for me to say, “God if you show me the way, I will join your army and I won’t turn back. I might fall, but I will get back up, dust myself off and keep marching to see what the end will be.”
He sent me an angel to tell me about Street Sense. It hasn’t been easy. Out of 20 people, I might get one donation and it might be 50 cents, but I’m grateful as if it was $100. I have put structure back into my life. I go to a meeting every day at 5 a.m. before I come to work and those meetings remind you that
you have to tell on your disease. Don’t hold that stuff inside. Get it out, tell someone. So I’m telling you so I won’t use again.
I have been saving and now I have my apartment for my eight grandbaby cats and myself. I feed 20 cats outside my building, and three are expect- ing any day. Nuts for the squirrels and bread for the birds. I also give money to other homeless people who are trying to help themselves every day, and I give money to children, because they are our future. So you see, what I make is spread a long way because animals have feelings too.
Somebody helped me so I am paying it forward. I entered school and hope one day to become a veterinarian’s assistant. I can’t get my degree until I finish paying my tuition of $500. I’m not going to worry. I will finally get it paid, and I’ll be like Rocky climbing up those stairs until I reach the top!
I dream of one day having a place in the country with lots of land, so I could empty out a lot of animal shelters and give the animals a real home.
For now, I am praising God from the bottom of my heart. And I want to thank each and every one of
you for believing in me. That’s why I am a soldier in the army. I have to fight although I have to cry. I have to hold up the blood-stained banner. I have to hold it up until I die. If you want your personal thank you, stop by 13th and G streets NW because Veda can now say, “I’m grateful!”
