by Andrea Wartenberg

Created on: December 24, 2006   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

Jake was born near Christmas in 1976. He was such a beautiful child with an almost angelic smile! He had our family's chestnut hair and huge brown eyes. I always thought of him as my happiest child. Jake was full of life, bubbling over with joy! I remember he slept all night almost from the time we brought him home. Since he was my third child that was a huge blessing. When Jake walked into a room everybody would smile.

As this boy grew up he was to discover something strange. Some people do not care for happy people! They are actually cruel to happy people. Now, Jake was very bright, even testing at genius level. However, Jake had ADHD, a chemical miscommunication in the brain. ADHD causes problems with attention. It is hard to stay focused because the brain keeps jumping from subject to subject. He used to love commercials on TV cause they went fast and he could remember the whole thing.

Now, you Jake was a wheeler-dealer! He loved to trade things. He would trade a toy car for a marble, then for a yo-yo, then for something else. By the time he was in the third grade he was an expert at trading. If a child is happy, trades often with others and has a problem paying attention and being quiet, well, you know the rest.

Jake got himself a teacher who did not care for him. In fact, she told the entire class not to play with him, in front of him! Mama had to go to school and get Jake removed from her class. But, the damage had already begun.

Jake lived with his brother and sister, Mom and a step-dad. Well, the step-dad did not listen to the doctors who tried to explain Jake's ADHD. Step-dad said he just needed strong discipline. He was not kind to Jake, but rarely in front of Mama cause she would get upset with step-dad. While she was working step-dad was very cruel to Jake. Unfortunately, Jake and the other children were prevented from telling Mama about what was going on. She worked long hours trying to support the family. Step-dad was home because he was dying of leukemia, slowly.

One day Jake ran away from school to see Mama at her work. He told her all the things step-dad was doing, including other things he was doing to Jake's sisters and brother. Mama went to the school to ask some questions. Many more details came out. Mama went home, called the police and step-dad was arrested, convicted, moved out and died about a year later.

As Jake got older a side benefit of ADHD reared its ugly head. Addictive personality arrived! Then, Jake was introduced to drugs. Marijuana

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