There is no better way to start this post than to just state the facts, clear and simple.
My parents are drug addicts.
I’ve hinted at the fact that they aren’t involved in a few posts. I don’t want to say I've only hinted because it’s hard to discuss, because it’s not. It’s something I’ve had to live with for years and something that just is. I think it’s more because I didn’t know where to start.
My parents were great when I was young. Right up until I was about ten, my sister and I lived a great life. . .maybe even spoiled. Without going into really lengthy details, it all just fell to pieces. And by ‘fell’ I mean crashed and by ‘pieces’ I mean shattered shards.
Growing up, life was hectic. An absolute mess. I would pause every day on my porch before I walked in the door, mentally preparing myself for what could possibly be inside. Would they be fighting? Would they be passed out and incoherent? Would they be angry, mean and hurtful? Or worse, would they act like everything was okay? Would they be in good spirits, allowing my sister and I to experience a few hours’ worth of peace and pseudo-happiness?
It was hard. I was hard: a really bitter person. I wasn’t necessarily outwardly ‘emo’ or ‘goth’ about things – I would smile and laugh, I had a lot of fun with the few friends that I did have, I would sing in the hallways and do stupid dances. I was just focused, I guess. I worked really hard in high school because I knew that was the only way out, but I made it very clear that I was over it and ready to move on and be and do better. I ran into someone I knew in high school at a local bar a few months ago and he was like, "you just look so much happier now." I said, "I was a big miserable bitch in high school, huh?" He laughed and responded, "I wasn't going to say it first, but yeah. I'm sure you can still be a bitch, but you don't LOOK like a bitch anymore. Does that make sense?"
Which makes The Palm Trees' relationship all the more miraculous, if you ask me. Like I said in our Story of Us posts: you may remember that Mr. Palm Tree and I grew up across the street from one another. Aside from occasionally seeing each other whenever our sisters were being dropped off at one another’s houses, we didn’t interact much after we moved across town. My sister, however, would always go to their house when things were really bad at ours. You know how you always have that friend, who knows everything and is your escape? BM Badonk was that for my sister.
