She survived by clinging to a pillar, healed by finding people who became her pillars, and chose love, which turned survival into a life. Stephanie believes adoption is always complicated, beautiful, and heavy at the same time. She wishes families could stay together whenever possible, yet at 37, she is joyfully becoming an adult adoptee.
Her road to this moment was not gentle. At 15, her birth mother tried to strangle her. In the blur of fear, Stephanie felt her vision dim and understood she might die. She fought back, clinging to a balcony pillar until the danger passed, then locked herself in the bathroom and stared at the red marks across her throat. She wondered if love existed without pain and why she was still here. The next day, she saw her mother using meth and felt something in her finally go quiet. The promises of change had been broken too many times: homelessness, violence, foster care, hunger. She walked out with a small trash bag of clothes and chose the unknown over more harm.
Her father was in prison for abuse; her brothers were lost in their own battles. There was no safe door to knock on. So she knocked on adulthood instead. She filed for emancipation just after her sixteenth birthday. Her hands shook in the courtroom. The seat reserved for her mother stayed empty. Stephanie told the judge about her jobs since she was thirteen, the trailer she could rent, the car she could drive, and her plan to stay in school. The judge granted her request but warned that he would revoke it if she slipped. She left with legal freedom and a deep ache: a paper in her hand, no family to call.
Work after school led her to a friend named Andi, who introduced her to a warm family and a church community. When Andi’s parents learned she was living alone, they invited her for dinner and into their home. They helped fix her car and encouraged her to return to one job and focus on graduation. College sounded impossible to a girl who didn’t know what a GPA, but they nudged her forward anyway. Years later, at a Thanksgiving table, Stephanie asked if she could call them Mom and Dad. They cried and said yes. In time, they made it official: adult adoption.
That chosen family stood with her through the worst storms, grieving both brothers, telling hard truths when she needed boundaries, and cheering for every step toward a healthier life. They celebrated scholarships, including one from Kelly Clarkson’s Dare to Dream program. Stephanie enrolled at Hardin–Simmons University and kept going until she earned two degrees, including a master’s in counseling. She built a life around helping others heal from trauma and grief, the very wounds she once carried alone. She founded a nonprofit, Encourage, to support parents in hard seasons. She also wrote a children’s book, Always Forever, which includes a lullaby, a bedtime routine, and a space for caregivers to write promises of unconditional love.
She married, became a mom, and learned firsthand how therapy and steady care can change a legacy. She discusses coping skills, patience, and how progress often looks like small, faithful choices. She is writing a memoir, The Sweet Side of Bitter, to tell the whole story and to remind others that survival can grow into purpose. Adult adoption doesn’t erase the past, but it reframes the future. Stephanie forgave what she could not fix, honored the pain that shaped her, and made room for joy. The girl who once hugged a pillar to stay alive is now held up by people who chose her purposefully. She knows the power of a safe home, a steady hand, and a name written beside yours on a single line that means everything.
