I was really worried the one neighbor (not sure if he was actually a cop or just wished he was, he always seemed very pissed off so I avoided him and his dogs) was going to hurt her. We live in a cookie cutter neighborhood so all the houses look the same and she was either trying to get into his or one next to his.

She would leave after I went to bed too and was picked up by the police, once pretty violently. She got into trouble with the store in town also, and that one was very close to sending her to jail, and the person she did stuff to was super pissed leaving court after we got her off, and I don’t blame him for feeling like he didn’t get justice.

She got a deferred sentence or whatever the call it, and since she stayed good for however many years now, her record got expunged. Again, only because I helped her write a very good statement to the court when she could barely string words together, and her mom paid for a pretty good lawyer and the care to show she was getting professional help.

I knew the whole time most won’t get so many chances or breaks, so I still don’t take it for granted. I just remember we never know what others are going through in their lives and that almost no one deserves being my written off, as anyone who met her then vs now would hardly recognize her.

I still wish this all never would have happened, but it’s what got her to really become the best her, so I’m thankful for it in the end. I just wish more people could have the same story. Her therapy group was online during Covid, so I got to overhear a lot of stories, and it made it easy to see how it can go with less helpful people involved.