Thread by @TheBrometheus

Last year I raised my family above poverty for the first time. A few years prior to that I:

-Had fleas
-Had feral rats in my home
-Was on food stamps
-Ate food the gas station threw away
-Had a family member abducted and raped by a crime family’s son

Been a long road.

Started off so incredibly poor. @MrsBrometheus and I got married with silver rings from the mall because we couldn’t afford gold. Lived in low-income housing where addicts tried to kick in our door when I went to work. Had to warn their families we’d kill the addicts to stop them

Worked two jobs each, sometimes more. I went to school at two universities simultaneously. We couldn’t afford heat in the winter so our breath looked like steam clouds inside our apartment as we’d shiver while writing our homework.

For two months we survived on bagels the gas station threw away after their freezers gave out. If not for those bagels we probably wouldn’t have eaten.

Food stamps don’t stretch real far when your addict family member is detoxing in your apartment.

Built ourselves up and moved to a new place - to discover it was infested with rats in the walls. They screamed and mated in the ceiling right over our bed at night. Fleas poured in through the vents and saturated our bedding, biting us night and day. Rat piss in the A/C vents.

Do you know how humiliating it is to have fleas?

I sure do. So does my wife. We struggled hard and stuck together because no one else was gonna pull us out. Our own families abandoned us. Fake friends turns their backs on us when we couldn’t afford to help them out anymore.

Got my masters degree five years ago and left California. Never looked back. Worked hard at multiple jobs, stacking up cash to reach the poverty line. Had two kids along the way, and my wife stays home with them. Cash means nothing if the kids don’t have healthy attachment.

Finally climbed above poverty last year. First time. It’s like conquering a mountain.

Now I don’t have fleas. I talk with @thegoswicks and @ChroniclesNate about my next financial steps. There’s no stopping now, gotta keep my kids free of this financial slavery.

Wherever you’re at, if you’re struggling or lost or afraid or even if you have fleas, there’s a way through. It may be damned hard work, but life exists on the other side.

Don’t ever stop.

Lots of people are getting inspired by this thread. Excellent. Don’t surrender to your circumstances. Rise to your challenges.

If you’re curious what I’m doing now, I write heavy metal christian fiction to inspire young men to courage and valor. Patreon.com/adamlanesmith