The Child Nobody Wanted

The Child Nobody Wanted
by Jennifer Madera Sarracino on Saturday, February 12, 2011

My name is Jonathan Joseph Sarracino, Im 24 years old and currently living here in Albuquerque New Mexico with my adopted sister, Jennifer. My life wasn't always so easy because I aged out of foster care and endured years of abuse while I was a "ward of the state". Please share my story, put it on every cause and page that you can because I am one of the few that is able to speak about the neglect and abuse children go through while they are in the system. I was born on May 20, 1986 my mother and father were only 17 yrs old when I had been born and were forced to marry so in reality they hated each other, it wasn't long before they began to abuse alcohol and drugs and then shortly after I turned 5 yrs old, my mother began to neglect me for her drugs and my father beat and abused me. One time, he beat me so bad, I defacated on myself, he then took me outside (in the cold weather sonce it was winter time) and washed me down with the garden hose, by the time I turned 7, I had beenphysically and emotionally abused by my parents, neglected by my mother and abused by my father, I felt like an outcast in my own home. Then one day, 2 women with clipboards came to the door with name badges that said CYFD, I didn't know why they were there but I soon found out after my mother signed me over to the state allowing them to take me into custody, I was glad to leave that horrible awful place where love, nurturing and hugs didn't exist, I really thought I was going to a better place but soon I would find out that I was wrong, dead wrong. Mr and Mrs Blaylock was the first family I stayed with the first year, they were horrible to me, trying to force their Jehovah's Witness religion on me, I told them to "go to hell" and that I would never convert to their religion. My rebellion was met with punishment such as spankings with a leather belt and no supper or dinner for the day. When my year was up with them, I was glad to go but I was placed in another foster home, this time with a family which I thought was down to earth at the time. The foster dad actually spent time with me and the foster mom cared for me as well, they were the ONLY family that ever cared for me the way I was supposed to be cared for, the rest of the families either punished me, deprived me of food and drink, gave me handme downs from their kids instead of spending the money on my basic needs which included clothing and food. I never had any toys, heck, I never even knew what a good Christmas was or a birthday or nothing! I never had a favorite toy or a favorite cartoon when I was growing up! How sad is that, that a child never knew what happiness was when he/she was growing up, he/she only knew abuse and put downs! I spent 9 years in and out of foster homes with no love, nurturing or hugs from a loving caregiver. I never played videogames or even had a best friend when I was growing up and I didn't even have proper schooling either because I never stayed in the same school for more than a year. When I turned 18, the system turned me out into the street, I didn't even know where my parents were when I was "turned loose to fend for myself". My grandparents took me in and I lived with them before my parents found me (finally) but I hate them for "handing" me over to the system because they didn't even know how to handle a child when they were teenagers themselves, oh yeah they're still married and they had 2 other children (besides the other 2 babies my mother gave up for adoption) but I always wonder why they never even tried to raise me or love me the way I should have been loved, this makes me feel sad all the time. From the time I was 18 until I was 23 I abused drugs and alcohol because I could control it but last year on Father's Day, I tried to take my own life. The past weighed me down so much that it nearly destroyed me but Jennifer saved me that day and made me see that life is worth living, she overcame abuse and almost dying so why couldn't I? Thank God she found me that day or I would have been lost forever. Im doing great now, I've gotten my GED with the help of my loving sister and now Im going to college to become an advocate like my sister. People don't see the sorrow or the pain children go through when they're in the system, they either wind up lost or dead so please pass my story on to help other foster children. I would like to thank my sister Jennifer Sarracino for typing as I told her my story, please share my story and raise awareness.