Randi

I am turning 25 in two months. Musician & writer. Outspoken liberal feminist. Bisexual. Atheist. I love to cook, and I love a good craft beer or a bottle of pinot noir.

I am born, raised, and still living near Milwaukee, WI. I work a mediocre retail job as a kitchen clerk for a small natural/organic foods cooperative in the area.

My mother is bipolar, and was very abusive while I was growing up. I got kicked out at age 17 with nothing but the clothes on my back. I was a straight A student who had to drop out of college after a year because my family couldn't help me and my mother made too much money for me to get aid. (And I still don't have the means to go back. It kills me every day.)

I was homeless for a total of a year and a half. I have slept in bus shelters, parks, and even behind my high school (so I wouldn't miss class). I have been evicted. I have been bled dry of my money and my sanity. I have been physically and emotionally beaten. I have been in an abusive relationship. I have been raped. I have stolen just so I could eat. And I have spent nine days in jail, falsely accused of murdering a former co-worker.

I also have relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, diagnosed in May 2012.

I have made it out of that hell almost unscathed. I am still alive, and sometimes that still surprises me. I have been to hell and back, and I don't have the slightest fucking clue where I'm going next.