Finding hope
Despite her difficult and abusive childhood, my aunt Debra Wilson has learned that life is a story you write, and now lives with belief that “with God and faith anything is possible.”

Growing up in New Orleans Debra Wilson lived a life where she had to grow up faster than most. As a young child, Debra lived with her grandparents, in May 1995 after her mother went to prison the raising of two children became way too difficult for her aging grandparents resulting in them beating her almost daily as a way to relieve their own personal stresses. Growing up with such old-school grandparents Debra had to learn that even though her grandparents told her she wouldn't amount to anything she had to learn that “through life, bad things will happen, but how you handle them is the real challenge and test of faith.” Her story is a prime example of using negative situations as a starting point for a new and improved YOU.

Debra’s mother had a number of drug and mental issues. In 1994 she was indicted for holding pharmaceuticals in at the time her 3-year-old …show more content…
After her mother finally was released from prison Debra wanted nothing to do with her, she said “ Allowing my mother to come into me and my sister's life would mean that I'm opening another portal to be hurt again. Everett was so young when our mother acted as she did and now that she is older I know that another sporadic episode from my mom would hit her extremely hard, that is why I made the decision to keep my sister from seeing my mother again.” This decision was not easy and she felt as if the only reason she still succeeded is that she had God and the Church to lead her. In being at the church she met a man named Arlon Palmer. Arlon was an usher at the church and also was a sponsor for the church banquets. After becoming friends and then best friends Arlon and Aunt Debra got married in 2010 when she was 27 and had their first daughter in 2012 when she was