My life has been blessed. I'm not saying I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, was spoiled or never had problems. But my parents were loving, hard-working, caring, protective and supportive of me. Whatever path to progress I wanted to take, they gave me the go ahead. My life changed drastically at 18. Sadly, I lost my father to leukemia right after I graduated, and lost my childhood best friend to the evil streets--to a much older and very abusive...