I’ve loved to write since childhood, but I always imagined my first book would be a work of fiction. I never thought I’d write a memoir about navigating the mental health and juvenile justice systems in Colorado for my child, but this was the book that begged to be written. Much like childbirth and the highs and lows of parenting, writing Pulled from the Wreckage was equally painful and rewarding. By sharing it, I hope to give meaning to my family’s suffering while providing a road map to others who find themselves lost on the same path. At the very least, I hope you can avoid the same potholes along the way and find comfort knowing you are not alone.

“If a story is in you, it has to come out.”

– William Faulkner

When my fourteen-year-old daughter Mina reveals to me that she hears voices, I know I need to find help for her and fast. But when a lack of appropriate resources in Colorado leads Mina from suburbia to homelessness, drug addiction, and incarceration, what begins as a search for mental health treatment for my daughter transforms into my own quest for peace and personal growth.

Diagnosed with bipolar I disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, Mina wreaks havoc on our family as she self-medicates with pot, skips school, and runs away. Mina’s school district refers her to truancy court but then rejects her from their own credit recovery program for being too unstable. At the same time, inpatient psychiatric hospitals turn Mina away because she doesn’t meet the criteria for crisis care. When the renowned Children’s Hospital kicks Mina out of their day treatment program for violating the dress code, I don’t know where else to turn for help.

Then human services steps in, and I’m hopeful that Mina is finally going to get the help she needs. But this help comes at too high of a price when my husband and I lose custody of Mina who becomes trapped in a cycle of revolving residential facilities and homelessness, both of which are plagued with drugs and adults who prey upon vulnerable teens. Having exhausted all treatment options, the court commits Mina to juvenile corrections where she attempts an escape, her facility is shut down due to unsafe conditions, and my family faces retaliation for exposing its secrets.

Just when I think things can’t get any worse, a semi slams into my car when my husband and I are on our way to visit Mina in “kid prison.” As my car is spinning around in the intersection, I realize I have no more control of the wheel than I’ve had over my daughter’s life for the past few years. Thankful for what I can only describe as divine intervention; my husband and I walk away from the wreck with barely a scratch. Feeling like my world has been demolished along with my car, I begin to see a path forward, through personal transformation, to purpose and peace.