From the outside, my life seemed perfect. I had the perfect family-two married parents, a beautiful house, and a lot of toys. But most people never bothered to "open my book and read it." It turns out, my story isn't a typical fairy tale. There is no prince charming, and I was in much worse conditions than Cinderella ever was as a maid. I was verbally and physically abused by my father, was bullied in school, and grounded forever outside of school. Three weeks after starting high school, my parents began to get a divorce. Eventually my family lost everything-even the pretty little cover of my book. At one point, both my parents were jobless, and I had to help pay for bills. I was raised in the church and was always told that God would never leave nor forsake me. But I could never understand why God would allow all this to happen to me. I wasn't the best kid in the world, but I never did anything that deserved any of the crap this life dealt me. I fought to find out my reason for being alive, and I nearly gave up. I wanted to die. But when I waited for God's time, things finally started to look up. He was there all along. For the first time, I have written down everything, and I share it with you in hopes that God can use my story to help you. Once Upon a Me is my story of the person I once was and who God made me into today.