Overcoming Abuse | An Emotional Story by Lillie Meakim | CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Overcoming Abuse | An Emotional Story by Lillie Meakim | CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

As a holiday special, we've got a very unique story about overcoming hardships, persistence and the sweet feeling of freedom. A real rollercoaster of emotions told in the first person by the brave Lillie. Big thanks to her for providing the story, and with that, helping to inspire others!

Credits:

Please go on and check out Lillie's channel, she makes some really interesting and fun content! Check it out, subscribe and drop some positivity on Christmas day!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQZjOOTYwzl4QFseBH_9wg

Speaker: Lillie Meakim

Music Licensed by Agus Gonzalez-Lancharro
Music by Really Slow Motion
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Transcript:
I'll never forget the day
I went to juvenile court
and was granted my emancipation.
That day
I felt like I never had to be afraid again.
I felt like my chains were broken.
And I was finally free.

My parents were divorced when I was four.
Before I knew it my dad disappeared altogether,
leaving my sister and I to be raised by my mother who was addicted to drugs and alcohol.
I didn't wanna focus on all of the negativity in my home life,
so I involved myself in everything in school.
I was in volleyball, I was in theatre, I was the captain of my track and field team,
I tutored children at the boys and girls club, I served as a deacon and greeter at my church,
I was the vice president of student government, I had a job at Baskin-Robbins,
and I was the vice president of our volunteer organisation at school.
And I was a straight-A student.
Meanwhile, nobody knew what I was going home to.
My mom always had different male figures in our house, trying to be our dad,
who were usually abusive verbally and physically.
The police were over at our house every other weekend.
She even evicted my sister and I when we were 13.
She ended up getting help and going to AA, but
after we moved back in with her, her sickness came back.
And she was back to
drinking and doing drugs.
The last day I spoke to or saw my mom,
she turned all of the electricity off in my home, and turned all the water off,
and took all of the food out of the fridge and told us we couldn't have any.
And told us that
we had to leave our house
and that she never wanted to see us ever again.
I would pray every night as a little girl.
I'd pray that God would help us.
Prayed to help my sister and I.
I'll never forget the day
I went to juvenile court
and was granted my emancipation.
That day
I felt like I never had to be afraid again.
I felt like my chains were broken.
And I was finally free.
Hello future Lilly or whomever it may concern.
Tonight is the night before my emancipation hearing and hopefully, it goes well tomorrow.
Got a text from my biological father and
got Interpol for kidnapping and there's a lot of drama happening right now,
it's too much to write down, it's too much to express and
whatever happens,
I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life and will hopefully
not make the same mistake with my own kids.
So, hopefully, everyone prays for me tomorrow
and hopefully, it all goes well.
That video clip is of me when I was 17,
I'm currently 24 and seven years later
that video is so hard for me to watch.
But as I watch that video,
I think, "she's 17 and she's so strong. I am so proud of that girl!"
I always knew the situation I was growing up in wasn't "normal"
because I had
parents of friends and police officers and random strangers all tell me that
the situation I was in wasn't okay.
But I didn't know any better.
And once I got my freedom, I completely understood.
It's so hard to describe, but I guess it's kind of like somebody who's blindfolded all of their life
and then one day they have the blindfold taken off and you realise,
"wow! This is what it feels like? Now I understand!"
My senior year of high school felt like a dream.
I no longer sat in school with fear of going home.
I vividly remember one day falling to my knees, crying, thanking God
because I had won every single scholarship I had applied to
and had just found out that day that I,
I was chosen out of 27,000 applicants to win a $20,000 scholarship from Footlocker,
presented by Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi.
In that moment I decided that in the future I was going to create a scholarship fund
for students to be able to attend school,
who like me, didn't have any financial support.
In fact, my senior year of high school, I gave away my first scholarship.
I didn't have a lot of money at the time because I was 17,
but I saved up money from working at Baskin-Robbins
and presented a student at my school with $1000.

By: The Outcome
Title: Overcoming Abuse | An Emotional Story by Lillie Meakim | CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Sourced From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYIeqiYDIqk

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