UPDATE: Portrait of a Dysfunctional Family

I heard a judge tell a criminal defendant on Monday that despite whatever bad things are happening to him or his family, that is not really an excuse to engage in criminal behavior.

Same thing applies to me. Despite what happened to me, I'm still here and I still have goals. I'm going to become a court advocate for abused and neglect kids going through the criminal justice (and civil) process once I am in law school. I'm also going to work with domestic violence victims when I'm in law school and do my LLM.

Thank you for all the good thoughts and well wishes. It does mean a lot. AND NO, MY BROTHER IS NOT GOING TO LIVE IN MY HOUSE. They have court orders to deal with that. I'm actually thinking about giving up on that claim so I won't have anything my parents can hold over my head....