Monica
"Gotta have support."
"Yeah, I wanna work, having a hard time getting them to hire me anywhere. Walmart greeters, I'm overqualified, I'm like, really? Come on, I just want to work, that's all. I've worked all my life! I'm on housing lists all over town, a bunch of different ones for 4 years.
I raised five kids, mostly by myself. I single-parented a lot. I had two husbands, but they were not there a lot. One was an over-the-road truck driver, so gone a lot, and the other was in a working band, traveling, rehearsing.
I had to grow up tough. I mean, moving every 3 1/2 years is really tough on a kid. New people, new schools. That was really tough for me. I'm an Air force brat. My dad had a bar here in Denver, I worked as a bartender and waitress.
I'm an alcoholic, I'm trying really hard to quit drinking. It's just slow, ya know? I'm doing really well, I've cut down so much it's amazing. I still have the DTs, it hurts, it hurts your body, it hurts really bad sometimes. I had quite a few sober years under my belt. It just, I don't know, some reason or another, I fall back.
I have friends that I can stay with now, friends that keep me safe. (My rape last year) Was pretty traumatic. I don't like to talk about it too much cuz it just makes my anxiety go way high.
Gotta have support. My friends, we can talk about how we feel. We help each other out in this aspect. We're empathetic, and we know what each of us is going through, so we help in whatever way we can. Make it easier on each other."