Yeah.

Why do other kids get to go home? Like, what does all of this say about me? Why doesn't anyone, uh, care about me? Why doesn't anyone love me like I feel like they should? And it makes me question loving myself, or it did growing up.

And as a child, you don't necessarily have that language to separate your circumstances from your identity But as an adult, I have learned that foster care is a part of my story, and it's not the entirety of who I am.

I'm an author, a musician, and a storyteller.

I'm also a creator, and I'm an adult that is still growing and healing, uh, throughout this whole entire process.

So all of these things can exist alongside being a foster care survivor.

What happened to me helped shape me because I've had to learn that it doesn't get to completely define who I am as a person.

Mm