Virtual Open Mic: Joni DeSchane

My name is Joni. When I was 1 years old my birth mother lit my crib on fire. We lived in poverty in the North Woods of Minnesota, the year was 1980. Social services had been over to the house to take me and my brother away from our mother three times that year. But placing us with other family for a while before giving us back to her was not the correct answer. The last time I was sent back home she lit my crib on fire just 2 months later. I sustained severe burns to over 70 percent of my little body. We don't get to choose our parents. As children, we have no say in our lives and most adults will easily assume some other adult has got your back. But that was not the case with me. After my initial hospital stay I was released to the care of a foster parent. I am 44 now and have not had an easy life. But this is my struggle and no one can take it from me . I will always come out on top because my soul is thriving. If my struggle feels too much I go back to my favorite quote by Rumi, "I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within." There is a struggle in life no matter where you come from or who you are and if you love yourself enough to be willing to face it than you can go anywhere, and do anything. We are not the sum of our parts, we are infinite. I can say that with certainty because through my troubles I have met God. He's got my back now.