Whenever the subject comes up and I tell people that I was adopted, they never seem to believe me. I look exactly like my adoptive parents. I act similarly, and even have some of the same mannerisms as my adoptive mother's dad. It's weird. But yes, I was adopted. As a young child, I didn't know enough to see that the situation I was surrounded by was not a good one. Drugs and violence were a daily norm. Of course, I didn't recognize drugs as drugs; it was just something that my biological parents did. We moved from home to home, never staying in one place too long. I attended at least 3 schools in my kindergarten year alone. Little did I know that my fate and circumstances would change forever.

I had just turned 7 years old when DFACS took my 2 sisters and I out of our home and away from our biological parents. Confused at first as to why I was taken from what I knew and placed into a completely new environment, I soon began to realize how different life outside of my situation was. Not too long after going into foster care, I was placed in the Bennett's home. As you can probably tell by my last name, these were the kind, loving people that I would be calling mom and dad.

My sisters did not accept foster care at all, and as soon as the chance came up, they left with a family member. I, however, decided to stay with the Bennetts. I have to say that this was probably the most important decision of my life. I loved them, and they loved me. Mom and Dad opened up their home and their hearts to a boy that they knew almost nothing about and selflessly loved and raised him as their own. Were it not for this Godly couple, I most definitely would have grown up a different person. Without the positive influences of my adoptive parents and the friends I soon became surrounded with, I would not have developed into the man that I am today. It absolutely scares me that I could still be in the environment that I spent my childhood in. An environment defined by drugs, teen pregnancy, and domestic abuse.

So, Paul and Margaret Bennett, thank you. Thank you for being selfless and godly. Thank you for opening your hearts and being disciples of Christ. Thank you for surrounding me with positive, selfless, beautiful people like yourselves. Id also like to thank our Sunday School group for all of the support and prayers over the years. I may not get to say it all the time, but I live every single one of you. Johnny and Madison, Tim and Jill, Makenzy, Matt and Kristen, Justin and Amy, Ryan and Staci, and many others who have come and gone through the years, thank you.

I am who I am because of others' kindness. I thank God every day for the chance He has given me to be someone other than what genetics would have made me. This drives me to succeed and excel. I have stumbled along the way and fallen quite a few times, but I have always had a wonderful family and circle of friends to pick me up.