I'm 35, a mother of two AMAZING boys and I love to sing and write. Gavin is fourteen, he is an INCREDIBLE musician- he plays guitar, sings and writes his own songs and he has grown up to be an absolutely outstanding young man. My little guy is Eli, he's four, full of life and energy, EXTREMELY intelligent and oh my goodness is he a sweetheart. Our little three person family is small but there is nothing small about the love that we have for one another. We cherish every moment together and are totally content and happy just simply being together because we know what it's like first hand to lose everything- including each other. We have been to hell and back, been torn away from each other for almost two years due to completely false allegations from CPS (Child "Protective" Services). I fought so hard to get them back and now it's time to heal. For me, part of healing is helping other families who have fallen victim to CPS. During the heartbreaking nightmare of having my babies ripped away from me, and each other, I felt so helpless, lost and completely devastated as my children were both being neglected and abused in the homes that CPS had placed them, so all I could do was research, research, research. I studied the CPS handbook, Oregon laws and made many friends on fightcps.com and Facebook who were or had been in similar situations, and I managed to get our case closed in a year and a half. (yes, 18 months of only being allowed to see my babies one hour per week, in a small room being supervised by DHS workers... PURE HELL. My then one year old Eli would hold onto my neck so tightly when it was time to go, the workers pried his little hands off of my neck as he screamed "Mama! Mama" As they carried him out of the building, back to his neglectful, abusive CPS placement home. I don't like to relive those days, as these are much happier times, but I know there are parents and kids who are going through what my kids and I went through, and I just want to help them all! I want to spread my knowledge and compassion and I want to teach all parents about what they need to do if CPS ever knocks on their doors. So, that's the very short version of our story- long story short, we will never be the same, the scars will always be there, but we all find our own ways to cope. One of my coping mechanisms is writing..... I love to write- I always have. Also, gratitude, helping others, positive thinking and the serenity prayer has helped me tremendously. :-)