Desiree Acanda:  

Life Oh my ; where do i begin....i'll share a bit with you for now, then update it later. My mother divorced my father when I was 13. I was the eldest out of 4 children.We lived comfortably well in Houston,Tx. ,but things changed fast after the divorce. We moved back to Chgo.in a 4rm., 2 bedroom apt.on Palmer and St. Louis, which was located behind a bar. the neighborhood also had street gangs ; something we obviously we were not accustomed to. My mom began to drink heavy and my brother got invovled with a neighborhood gang(the Imperial Gangsters).My 2 younger siblings were soon taken from us by my dad, leaving my mom more freedom to stay out late and ignoring me and my brother even more. I went to Darwin School and my brother went to Mosart. how that happened , i still don't know. I met many people and had met qiute a few friends; one stood out from the crowd. Her name was Denise Cantu . She was my best friend! I would hang out at the Logan Square Boys Club were I met even more people. This kept me out of trouble and gave me a positive attitude about myself. We need to have more organizations like that ,not only in the cities but in the burbs as well. I finally found my escape from the madness at home and married and had a child with a wonderful man at 18.He was a bit older than me and very finacially secure. I married for all the wrong reasons.I just wanted to get out of my house mostly because of the enviorment .My mother would always say ,"marry somebody with money" . She left out marry someone that you love.! I eventually got divorced soon after the birth of my daughter V.G.( i named her after my mother )Can u believe it ..i was married and divorced within the same yr. I was young and not stable so i granted her father full custody; something i would regret for the rest of my life. I haven't seen her in 20yrs. I soon had a great job and at 19 moved to the N. side on Sheridan Road . on my own. I had a wonderful life.I was independently and financially secure, had my own place and enjoyed life. I met someone and eventually married again . I was 23. I finally found happiness. We had a beautiful child , lived on Lake Shore Drive for a yr. then moved to beautiful Miami,Fl. ( he was Cuban). Soon after the move, he became a violent man. I left him taking my daughter this time, within that yr.. I moved back to chgo.with my mom until i got back on my feet. It didn't take long before I got a j...Expand for more