Nov 24, 2021
Felicia openly shares that her upbringing began with a mother who suffered with undiagnosed schizophrenia, and when she was the tender age of 6, one day at school, she met her two older brothers at the school office where they were then taken and placed in foster care. She remained in the foster care system until she was 18 years of age. Felicia connects with difficult moments and unknown feelings, never feeling settled anywhere, in addition to her identity as a mixed-race child, being raised in a predominantly Caucasian area, she carried a great deal of shame, not wanting others to know her full ethnic identity. She explores the difficulties from childhood right to adulthood, impacts post foster care, and learning later about her brother’s mental health diagnosis. Felicia expresses how difficult it felt to catch a break, feeling heartbroken all over again as what her brother would go through is what she lived through with her mother. She talks about the direct impact to her mental well-being over the years, habits she developed, co-dependencies that became constant in her life, and how the traumas that she has lived through have shaped who she has become as she has learned to re-balance her life. Her key message to the listeners is that: if you are in foster care -- aim for any kind of stability; don’t leave a stable situation, whether it be a home, job, relationship; don’t ever think you are crazy for things falling apart; open your heart to love again.