A Tale of Transcendence
When writing my memoir, I thought, “If this book could help even one person then it’s all worth it.”
Abducted by her mentally unstable mother, one girl forages her way to the top.
Spending the night in Juvie wasn’t the worst thing to happen to seven year old Teresa that summer. When her much-anticipated cross-country vacation turns to abduction, Teresa is forced to care for her mother, sister and twin brothers. Homeless, abused, and afraid in the slums of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, Teresa finds joy in her adventures while fantasizing of a better life. Keeping this dream alive throughout her childhood is what drives her to end the cycle of abuse and poverty.
Pushing hard into the pavement, I bolted past bums lying along the buildings, jumped over pieces of newspaper blowing in the breeze, and dodged all kinds of other trash as I sprinted after the bus. My lungs burned from the early morning chill, but that didn’t stop me. Nothing was going to stop me. A shout from the other side of the street broke my concentration. One of the bums, the scary kind who screams cuss words out loud. I shouldn’t have looked.