Hi! My name is Amarah. Kids are important to me, and they’re important to Jesus, too.
In Matthew 18:10 (KJV), Jesus said, “Take heed that ye despise not (hurt or be mean to) one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”

“Kids like me” are kids whose parents are drug addicts, and alcoholics; kids who have suffered, or who are suffering, abuse and neglect on multiple levels; and kids who are victims of bullying.

This week Dee Romero, a divorced mom in Alamosa Community Corrections is contributing to my column for “kids like me.” When she was a little girl, both parents were in the home, “off and on.” She had siblings and her grandparents, and attended church. But, both parents drank alcohol, smoked, and used drugs. Dee was artistic, played the flute and the piano, wrote poems, and played sports in school. She wanted to be a doctor or a nurse, “I wanted to be someone who could help in any way.” She also had a pet that was important to her (I understand that)! Dee struggled in school, and just like me, her teachers did not understand and were not very nice to her. She did have a friend in school, though she didn’t have a trusted adult to talk with. Now, she is divorced with three children, she believes in God, and it took courage for her to tell me she didn’t teach her children about Jesus.

Dee had a great relationship with her kids when they were younger but is concerned she may have hurt them emotionally, for which she is sorry, and is working on making things right with them, and the rest of her family. Dee drank alcohol for 20-years “because I wanted to,” but she stopped drinking. Methamphetamine was her drug of choice, but she stopped using drugs, too.

“I used everything that would change my state of mind. I wanted to be happier and live my life in a fantasy world so I started using meth and used it for 15 years. I didn’t want to stop using drugs before but now I’m glad for what happened and where I am so it helped me find myself, helped me to change, and helped me quit using. Drinking alcohol and using drugs had me on an up-peak and a low-peak and toward the end I lost everything and now I have slowly piece by piece put myself back together. I believe there is a high possibility for my children to drink and use drugs, but I also think because they have seen everything their father and I went through that they possibly won’t.”

What is Dee’s advice for parents who are addicts? “Even though we think we’re only hurting ourselves, we’re literally hurting everyone we love and whoever is trying to help us. We don’t realize what we have til everything is gone.”

Dee’s thoughts about grandparents raising kids like me? “Kids often get neglected because of parents like us and our addiction. Our kids need someone to give them the love and the attention that we as parents don’t realize in our sickness that we aren’t giving to them, but the grandparents are.”

I asked Dee’s advice for kids like me and she said, “To understand there is always someone for you to trust and to talk to, like mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, teacher - if ever needed, or if you are scared or if there is something the matter - tell someone so they can get help for you.”

Thank you, Dee, for your honesty and courage answering my questions. And, thank you for reading my column. Please send questions or comments to me in care of the Courier, [email protected] or write to me at Amarah’s Childrens Foundation “Kids Like Me” P.O. Box 354, Alamosa, CO 81101, or call (719) 480-4624, leave a message, and someone will return your call. If you know a kid like me, or parent who is an addict, or alcoholic, please tell him or her about “Amarah’s Corner, Kids Like Me” in the Valley Courier newspaper and tell them to contact me, or you can contact me on their behalf. And, if you know a kid like me, or parent, who does not have a Bible, but would like to have one, please, contact me and I will make sure he or she gets a Bible of their very own, “…and all the earth may know there is a God…” (1 Samuel 17:46, KJV).

My goal is to help kids like me, and I want to help their parents, too. Until next time, remember, Jesus Loves You, and JESUS IS LORD!