Lion # 100

I am a mother of five children. We lost our first son when he was two-and-a-half in a drowning accident. Jessica is our middle daughter. At the age of 21 she was in a very serious car accident that nearly took her life (and did in a way) Jess was driving. She was thrown out the passenger side window. She suffered a traumatic brain injury.

As a teenager, you are invincible and nothing can harm you. You are on top of the world and whatever you want to do, you can. As a teenager, your hopes and dreams are as high in the sky as they can be. So it was for me as well. Life was treating me great. I was class president for my high school, a track star and state record-holder, and I had just found out that I was going to be a starting football player when my life changed forever. Before that summer day, all I could think about was track, football, girls, and school–in that order. Then my world changed.

Lion # 105 : KEBBE

I left my husband in 1999. I hid in a motel with my three kids after telling him I was leaving, and my parents drove through the night to get be because I was too afraid to drive away.

He did not beat me.  Surprised?  Instead, he belittled me, made me feel ugly and worthless.  He broke my spirit.