(Oklahoma Girls Group Home Fall 2005)
Misty is a 17 year old, single mother of a 2-year-old son. She has been involved in the D.H.S. system for most of her life. Both of her parents are incarcerated for drug related charges and both have had their parental rights terminated. Misty began living in foster care when she was 6 years old her son began much younger. As a child, Misty was resistant to being adopted because of her dream to someday be reunited with the mother she remembered. She lived in many different foster homes, always managing to get herself moved before she could get close or attached to anyone. At 12 years of age, Misty was sent home to live with her maternal grandmother. That placement is no longer viable because her grandmother has tested positive for Methamphetamine use.

When I went to do my confrontation letter I was very scared. I did not know what to think. I thought that my mom was going to be violent. I talked to my therapist the whole way down there. We drove to McCloud, OK to Mabel Bassett Correctional Center. I was really nervous and excited at the same time.

From what I know about my mom she was a violent person and was not easy to talk to. She was not a person that expressed her emotions.

When we arrived at Mabel Bassett I felt a familiar sense of emotion. Like I belonged or something. We had to wait one hour before I actually got to go in. When we went back we had a seat at a table and waited. She came out almost instantly. My therapist explained to her what it was about. Then I started reading my confrontation letter. I felt like a big bag of emotions. Everything that I ever felt in my life was raging inside of me.

At the end I felt a lot better about myself. On the way back to Bethesda we talked about how I did and how I felt about everything that she had said.

I have learned and expressed a lot of things. This is the beginning of my good future.