Sometimes I would cry myself to sleep
Direction Magazine|March 2020
Sinéad Kennedy was ready for giving up but then God stepped in
Sometimes I would cry myself to sleep

I wondered why Mam had fallen asleep again. I was trying to get her attention but she was unresponsive. I tried calling and shaking her but there was still no answer. This had become a familiar pattern of behaviour since Mam had begun drinking heavily and taking drugs.

I know she was a struggling single mother with four kids under the age of ten, but we desperately needed her. She used to be such a devoted mother before Dad’s infidelity. I know her world shattered in that moment, but we just wanted everything to go back to normal.

Sadly that would never be the case, and at the age of four I was put into foster care. It was the system’s way of providing a more stable environment for me and my siblings, but instead drove deep the belief that I was rejected and abandoned.

We saw Mam on occasions but the addiction took its toll on her and we noticed a rapid decline in her physical and mental health.

Dad moved in with his new partner after she became pregnant. Sometimes I cried myself to sleep wondering why he chose his new family over us. We saw him at times but I really hoped that one day he’d realise how much we meant to him and come and get us. Sadly he never did.

This story is from the March 2020 edition of Direction Magazine.

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This story is from the March 2020 edition of Direction Magazine.

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