This project is a fictionalized story of a former substance abuser and alcoholic. The mother recalls the moment when her child, Avery, changed her life for the better. There is a positive outcome and yet, this is not always true for children born to such mothers. What if their lives had gone differently?

1. DearDear

2. Before you were born,
I begged
to save me

3. Cold
were my
companions
on abandoned street corners

4. Every day
was
with earthly temptations I could
not escape

5. Gone were
the days of praying
to a God who had
abandoned

6. for the helpless
does not come
from an
invisible hand

7. Just when it seemed
I would journey
into the
forever

8. icks
echoed against my
belly from your tiny
feet

9. your life
was growing
within me

10. You
were
my
iracle

11. On September 7th, you
your eyes to
this world

12. And your feet began
leaving imprints on my
eart

13. Thank
you

14. 1 in 750 babies is born
with fetal alcohol
syndrome every year in
the United States

15. These babies experience
physical, developmental,
and functional problems

16. 13, 539 substance dependent
babies were born in the United
States in 2009
That’s about one drug-addicted
baby born every hour

17. These infants are at risk
for developing growth
and learning disorders

18. A portion of these
children will experience
abuse, neglect, and
substance abuse as they
grow older

19. What if their lives had
gone differently?

20. What if?