5In life, we all have decisions. Growing up in a dysfunctional Brady bunch with two mothers and four dads, life was anything but simple. From my dad killing my best friend to my siblings taking advantage of my innocence and finding my mother naked numerous times surrounded by pills. All this before I was seven. At a young age, I learned how to persevere and be resilient. It was a rocky road battling crippling mental illness and having the only constant in life be change. It was lonely and demeaning. My biggest roadblocks were family. Blood does not always run thicker than water. But I adapted. I overcame. I beat the odds. I chose the road less traveled. I never accepted defeat.