Part 1 of my Life

My name is Stefanie and I am an addict. I was born into a broken home. My dad, who left when I was just an toddler, was an active herion addict. My mom had many mental issues, stemmed from her own messed up childhood. I don't remember much from my childhood, a bit here and there. I remember the day my first hampster died. He was overweight and got stuck under the fridge. Had I been older I wouldv'e known this was a sign that something awful was about to take place. I remember the day my two brothers and I came home from a visit with our grandparents and the door was blocked by boxes. Inside them were everyone's belongings. Everyone's except my dad's. We moved to my aunt Kim's house. I remember my mom and I had to share the bed downstairs in the basement. And my two brothers slept somewhere upstairs. Not too many great memories from there. My dad had officially abandoned my brothers and I. I remember waiting on the porch one day for one of our weekend visits, but he never showed. I remember my cousin Eric and one of my brothers getting attacked by hornets after knocking down their hive. I remember the door to the basement getting set or caught on fire, I was so afraid. I don't remember how it got started but I remember my mom saying it must have been my dad.
I don't remember how long we stayed there, what the reason for us leaving, or where we went after that. My next memory is staying in a hotel. I was three or so. My older brother chocked on a french frie front a fast food joint after attempting to swallow it hole.
When I was four we were living in an apartment on a dead end road. I don't remember how we got there. My mom was drinking a lot and had a boyfriend named Paul. It wasn't until my later years, after much therapy that I fully remembered what happened in that apartment. But for a good part of my life all I remembered about Paul was that he was over weight and would be extra nice to me. I remember he bought me my first lemonade from the lemonade truck. He bought me the biggest one. I blocked out the bath tubs and the dances, but I'll get to that at another time. My mom had tried to kill herself. I remember because she made me watch. She told me it was my fault. Paul had gotten arrested. I didn't know why. How was she to get by now? I remember running down the street to my neighbors that used to babysit my brother and I. I told her what my mom had told me to say. And the next thing I remember is having my 5th birthday party at a foster parents house...