My parents are gone and my substitute family was weird. What did I do

I'm sorry you're having a rough time. It must be awful.

I don't agree that it's a cold world -- but there are a lot of cold places in it. Sadly, it can be up to us to find the warmth sometimes. Places where we might have expected it the most (like home) are often the most disappointing.

The good news is, sometimes the warmest places are where we least expect them.

When I was a teenager, I looked around at my surroundings and said, "I have to get away from these people." It took a few years, but get away I did, and I've been very glad all the way.

The most important thing is not to lose hope. Be on the lookout for meaning in life. It's there.

Ee, it's a bummer for sure but I have a habit of dreading the bad stuff
that we don't see an the children who don't know any better and get lost.
That hurts cause it's 'all ok'

I understand. A lot of us dread the bad stuff. I have always struggled with anxiety, and since having a stroke nearly six years ago, it takes a lot of hard work not to live in constant fear of having another one.

The flip side, though, is that through all that, I have learned *not* to live in constant terror.

In your case, it may help to know that *all* families are weird. Some are definitely weirder than others, but none are perfect. Yet somehow, most of us survive the bad stuff and carry on.

I know a woman who was orphaned at 3, lived under Nazi rule at 11, was made a slave laborer at 14, married at 18, had twelve children, moved her family halfway around the world, was abused by her alcoholic husband, had to work nights for many years, suffered two strokes and a heart attack...yet stayed positive through it all and lived into her late 70s.

People can and do overcome severe trauma, deprivation, and hardship. If they do it, you can too -- if you want to bad enough.

Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's unfair. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it hurts. Hang on anyway.

Hi Berttammey,
I'm sorry that you are having such a bad time! That's hard! Everything seems to occur at once doesn't it?

A few months ago my husband of 30 years died and here I am at 78 alone in the world! On top of that, the refrigerator broke and had to be replaced, the furnace had to be repaired, the car needed some work and the roof leaked! However, I turned everything over to God. I just talked to him and asked him to fix everything and take the loneliness away. It wasn't instant but eventually God fixed everything through some very nice people; some of them were the very least that I would expect to ever do anything for me! Because of their kind actions, the loneliness has started to go away.

Just turn all your problems over to God. Talk to him like he's your best friend and he is! You don't have to go to church to find God. Just pray. Church can be very nice but it's not a requirement for a relationship with God. Tell him about all of your problems and loss of work. He will direct you where it will be the best place for you.
You are right about the world being bad. It is. Very bad. But God will take care of that eventually too! So, just put all your trouble in God's hands and have faith that everything will be fine! (If it isn't as fine as you want, you can tell God about that too.)
I wish you the best and an early Merry Christmas! I will say a prayer for you also.
PML

Dearest PML, Christmas blessings to you for the beautiful reminder to
leave it to God. I'm even more glad those home repairs were taken care
of.
I was given the 'coolest' of blessings on my walk to the store this
evening. It appears to be close to a full moon with no clouds (twinkle
twinkle....) Thanks a gazillion for reminding me the bologna from the past
is P.!
Do take care and happy New Year.

Berttammey,
Thank you for the kind comments! I'm glad I could be of some help.
What a wonderful sight to see the moon and the stars in all their glory! I love looking at the moon and do quite often. However, I live in Western Washington State so quite often it's cloudy and/or raining so we don't get to see the moon as often as I'd like. But when I do see it, it just stuns me what beautiful things God created for us!
Happy New Year to you also!
PML