Sometimes life makes me sad.  I watched as a car stopped in a parking lot outside my window.  A man who was obviously mentally challenged was forced out of the car.  The guy driving pretended to drive away.  He drove a few feet then stopped.  Drove a few feet and stopped.  The man who was pushed out chased the car through the parking lot, obviously afraid he would be left behind.  It's winter in Michigan.  Too cold to be playing games with someone unable to care for themselves.  What happened to humanity?

I wish this was an isolated incident, but I know it's not.  I was forced into an unlicensed group home when the man who was supposed to "Guard" me, protect me from the nasty people of the world, decided I wasn't worth it.  I had received a $155,000 settlement from an auto accident only a few months before my life was ripped out from under me by a Court Appointed Guardian.  I was told all my money was gone, and I had no other choice but to go where he said.  I has no choice and no one to protect me from a system and man with no accountability.  My daughter was given to her father like she was a commodity.  My furniture and belongings, including a rare coin collection, were given to the greedy and hateful woman who owned the group home I was being placed in.  I was alone, depressed, with no where or none one to turn to.  The injuries I incurred in my accident were temporary.  My daughter and I were in a transitory point in our lives.  It was more profitable, though, to keep me dependent on a man and system who didn't care if I lived or died.  The treatment I received is proof of that.  The system was strong.  I was stronger, and I got out.  So many more are still there.  Alone and cold with no one to truly care.

Seeing that man chasing after a car in the parking lot reminds me of a very painful time in my life.  Time I'll never get back.  My belongings are only things.  My dignity is not.  It's a part of me.  no one should ever try and strip me of this.  No one should have to chase a car in a parking lot, afraid they will be left in the cold.  I survived because my injuries were temporary.  What of the man in the lot?  What is he enduring tonight at the hands of those who don't care?