Crystal Amberlyn

On April 16 th , 2018, my boyfriend and I will have been together for three years. I know to some, that is not long but to me, it has been long enough for me to truly feel he is the one. I know there is always the possibility we will not work out but so far, we are happier than ever, and I could not imagine my life without him. Now, I understand if you do not wish to read a silly girl’s love story but for those who adore love stories, I think you might enjoy mine. The first time I saw Trevor was my sophomore year of high school. We were both in Sophomore Leadership. This was a program held by local schools where the top three students of each class learned leadership skills. He was a student from Hardin Northern, and I was a student from Upper Scioto Valley. Like any other young girl in high school, I was looking for cute boys, and he was one of them. Now, it would seem logical to think he thought I was cute too, and we began talking, but this was not how we got together. In fact, ...

There are many people in this world who struggle with depression, and I am one of them. Imagine constantly tearing yourself down even though you have done nothing wrong. Imagine getting angry at your own friends and family just for trying to talk to you. Imagine trying to fall asleep at night, but you can’t because you are tortured by the memories of past mistakes. This is what it was like for me with depression. Some people do not realize discovering you have depression is not always clear. It took me a lot of time and suffering to realize I did. For a long time, I believed my actions and feelings were normal. Everyone has their story, and this is mine.  Many people associate depression with extreme levels of sadness, and I have experience this. It would not matter the severity of the event; my mind would crumble. The sadness I experienced was more than a bad feeling with tears. It was painful. I remember times I would cry so hard my eyes would swell and my heart would poun...

"Just because you come from a rough beginning does not mean   that is where you must end."  I like to believe I am a nice person. I also like to think I am a hard worker and good student. Sadly, I was not always this way. At one point in my life, I was a bully. I was mean and like every other troubled individual, there was a reason why I acted the way I did. During the critical learning period in my life, I learned violence and anger was the way to solve issues or get what you want. So, that is what I did. Fortunately, I reached a point where I decided to change my life. I made the decision to change. My bad behavior started as early as kindergarten. I would get angry at children who would not share their toys with me, and I would constantly rebel against activities. There was a time I climbed to the top of the play tower and would not come down because I did not want to learn the alphabet. I was surely a troublemaker, and it only got worse as I got...

If you have read my previous blogs, you might have noticed I mention only my mother, not my dad. Well, I intend to explain this and more. This information about my mother and I is quite personal, but I feel it is important information to help understand me and my stories to come. There have been numerous times I have said my mother has been through a lot. This is because my mom has had two husbands, and both were abusive alcoholics. She did not know her husbands would treat her they did. In fact, I recently learned she did not wish to marry either of them. She was never properly proposed to by these men. They both expected her to take their hands in marriage, and my mother did not have the courage to say deny them. My mother met her first husband in high school. He was the football star, and she was the beautiful cheerleader. She told me one day he said, “I think it is about time we got married.” There was no ring or getting down on one knee. She did not wish to marry ...