The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI

Lilliana Telesford
Jeanine Stansfield, Teacher
Warren-Prescott K-8 School, Charlestown, MA
Courage to me means overcoming things you never thought you could
overcome. Becoming a better you.
I am writing about myself. I’ve shown courage because I had to go through a
really hard thing that I thought I couldn’t overcome. At the age of four I was
separated from my mother because of the bad choices she made. She had a
drug addiction and ended up in jail. It took me a long time to adjust, and I
always had to say Nana and Grandpa instead of Mom and Dad. My dad left
before I was born. I was attached to my mom, and I loved her so much. I was
a momma’s girl so it was really hard for me.
When I got taken away from my mother, I was put into foster care. I was in
foster care for one week. It was scary, and I was all alone. I was only four years
old when this happened. Good thing my nana and grandpa were able to get
me; I have to thank them for it. When I was six or seven years old I always
thought my mother had left because of me, so I cried every night saying,
“I miss my mummy.” Being so young I never understood why I couldn’t
go back to her.
“I’m not going to let
my mom stop me from
living my best life,
because courage is
also determination
and that’s what
I’m going to do.”
Now I am in the sixth grade and have learned to live without her. I was scared,
depressed, upset, angry and many other emotions for so long, but now I am
able to move forward. I often think about one Christmas wish that has never
come true, wanting my mom to come back. It has been really hard. I miss her
so much. I still cry about her sometimes, but now she is in the past and I’m
in the present. I’m not going to let my mom stop me from living my best life,
because courage is also determination and that’s what I’m going to do.
When my mother got out of jail, she visited me a few times and then she
was gone again. I didn’t know what happened to her. I fell back into a dark
hole. I was alone. I didn’t talk a lot–all I did was cry. I never talked to anyone
except my family. I thought she would never come back, and I wouldn’t have
a mom. I was worried. My nana and grandpa hid the truth from me to make
me feel better. They said she was sick and that she would come when she was
better. They said she would get better soon. She was sick for one week, which
then turned into two weeks, then three, then one month. During that time
I started to bloom and make friends. I found my best friend when I started
kindergarten and started new things.
That one month turned into five years, before she finally made a phone call.
I was in tears. I missed her so much. Turns out she was doing drugs again
and she had fallen back into a dark hole. But my love for her grew into
disappointment, and my disappointment remains. She made that call around
June of 2021. Every day I think, “Why did you leave me? Why do you do drugs?
Why can’t you come back?’’ Every day I feel more and more worried about
why she hasn’t called.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
Volume XXXI
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