growing up poor in mississippi

 since January is national poverty awareness month.i decided to tell my tell.i can say it was the most scaring thing,and what gave me the strength i have today.my mom and dad both worked.my dad was a chief welder at a steel plant.he was proud,so was i.we were not rich,but no where near poor.then,one day we went to pick him up from work.only to be told he was in the hospital.they never told us what happened.we went there   and they told us he would probably be dead by morning.but he lived.we found out a jack hole came to work drunk.he flipped the wrong switch and my dad trying to save another guy,got caught between two steel beams.the result.he had internal injuries,crushed spine,pelvis,spleen..the damn plant fired him when he did not show up for work the next work day.yeah,you heard me,they fired him for not being at work even though he left from there in an ambulance and unconscious there we were.my mom`s job paid next to nothing.then my dad`s insurance quit paying.then,we were kicked out.we found another house,but then,my mom was laid off.we could not pay rent.we barely had money for lights and water.i ate out of a dumpster.i became an outcast.the treated my family as though we had committed a sin.my dad did not drink,my mom did not drink.and neither were on drugs.but ,that is the way people thought.i usually ate one meal at school,came home,did homework,and off to bed.i never had a birthday party after the age of 8.i never had a Christmas after 8.during summer breaks,i would only eat one meal.i had no friends .the house was cold during winter.i stayed sick.my mom got a job,but little pay.then,after 4 years,the insurance and the company settled,or we did.we were starved into a settlement.we got next to nothing.after medical.and we owed everyone dad could no longer work.so then came the fight for his disability.another 4 year battle.during which i had a accident.and because my family had no insurance,they did the old in and out.the accident has left me disabled.but,i guess them making a dollar was more important.i will not say it was all bad.i learned a strength that most will never know.i learned happiness is not in what you own.but ,i also learned the cruel coldness of people.and i learned just because someone says they are christian,does not mean they are.i am haunted by a dream that never came true.so many said i was the smartest kid they had ever teached .but ,what good did it do.i never had a chance.