I am originally from Grand Rapids, MI, which is where I live now. But I have bounced around quite a bit throughout my short years of existence. I learned recently that I was born in Carson City, MI, a small town northeast of Grand Rapids by about an hour travel time. I had 2 parents and many siblings. I know the names of my 4 biological siblings, but I am only in contact with one, Conner. When I was about 3 or 4 years old we all got removed from our parents and placed in foster homes around the state. My brother was placed with me, and even though we bounced around different foster homes, we were kept together. We were in so many foster homes, it’s too many to remember.
In 2009, my brother and I were adopted by a couple who became the only ones we knew as our mother and father, we knew they loved us and they cared for us. We lived with this couple for about 9 years, until alcoholism took over my parents’ lives, and my brother and I experienced physical and emotional abuse. In 2018, I was separated from brother, and I was moved to a group home for youth in Evart, MI. There I acted out behaviorally, emotionally, and physically. I struggled with PTSD, depression, anxiety attacks, and attachment disorders. I never believed in myself, and I never believed I could achieve great things. I still struggle with those things to this day, but I have come to believe in myself. I am who I am in part due to those times of the struggles and pain that I lived through as a child, because in those struggles, I found my strengths, my power to overcome. I may still be rough around the edges, but I bite back at adversity with a ferocious bite.
Other than looking out for Conner, music is one of those strengths that helped me through all my struggles in life. I found in music a space where I could find the words I did not know to express what I was feeling. Music is a great comfort to me and I am certain that music saved my life. I have such a passion for music and it is my lifelong aim to share music- in teaching, in learning, in busking and however else I can, because if music can help me feel comfort and hope in the midst of struggle, maybe it can do the same for you.