By: Viola Crowley

Word on the Street Issue 47, September 2024

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I have three girls ages 28, 24 and 19. Recently my youngest moved home. There were many reasons why she wanted to come home. Bad living situation, too finish high school, safety and security to gain her independence to be on her own, just to name a few. We were homeless together for a couple of years but the last few years she was with grandma and grandpa and my middle daughter. My middle daughter is unmedicated schizophrenic among other things and it is not easy to live with her. My youngest daughter was doing all the chores, taking care of her sister’s horse and her sister’s goats, plus helping to raise her nephew. That coupled with her grandpa’s decline in health, she missed out on her senior year. Not to mention that her sister is mentally and emotionally abusive. So I told her to come home. Now my new place is only a 1 bedroom with a pass through “bedroom” but I knew that helping my daughter to achieve her goals and to gain independence was extremely important. I want my daughter to succeed in life. So I moved into the other bedroom and gave my daughter a bigger room. There were several reasons for this including her dog needing her own space so we could work on her behavior issues. I know many people will not agree with this but that’s OK. We’re all allowed to have our own opinions. In my opinion, our children should be able to come home at any point in their life to restart. My door is always open to my children. I’m glad my daughter came home instead of going to a shelter. She can be safe and comfortable while starting over and saving money. Our children are always our children and home is always home.