By April Joines

2/21/2026

“Speak the Truth to one another .”Says Jesus

Please know this comes with a warning : ⚠️ Do not steal if you are destitute , please always ask if you need . Ask & Ye shall receive , is a holy Biblical saying . So please keep in mind these are things I did in my juvenile years of life before 18 years old ….

Okay , read on .

There were many times I came home and we had nothing in our cabinets and we would go to 7-11 and drop a Slurpee on the ground for the store clerk would have to be mopping it up so we could steal bread in our stolen parka sleeves . Yes, I went and stole a polo Ralph Lauren yellow puffy parka for winter because I didn’t have any winter coat because my dad didn’t give us money to buy school clothes and Winter was coming and we didn’t have any food in our cabinets when I was in the 5th going into the 6th grade! I love Slurpee’s, but I did like have to regrettably spill them on the floor for someone else to clean so my brother could put combos pizza snacks and cupcakes in his pockets ! Lol , I noticed that Dwayne Johnson went into a 7-Eleven he did the same thing , he used to get Snicker candy bars and then he went into the store and he gave them a bunch of the candy that he stole because he realized it was wrong later on so he brought back the candy to the clerk like a big box of and wrote them out of check for all of the times he had stolen candy bars from them . Omg, yikes ! 😋

Honestly, if it weren’t for my neighbors Mom nearby and my friends that I stayed with from church in South Stafford , I would’ve been starving. Did not even have money for school lunch sometimes because my Dad on his mid thirties was giving the money to the drug dealers. I hope he doesn’t ever give money to them again or his lil sister. Omg ! Life in the white ghettos .

One time I read an essay in front of the school in the Gymnasium to the whole Kindergarten- 5th Grade when I was 11 years old in Fifth grade about why people shouldn’t do drugs. I read it in front of the whole auditorium/ gymnasium the Principal asked me to in Ms. Beverly’s class for the D.A.R.E . I won two school spelling bees without studying. My brother, won one also. We had to steal our coats and parks from the mall to and steal our school supplies and put lives of bread in our coat sleeves when my dad was buying drugs, though he has tried recently to not do that anymore.

In middle school I got distinguished honor roll sixth seventh and eighth grade . My parents divorced when I was 14 I went to go sleep on my friends floor still starving I had to borrow a dollar a day 4 silver Quarters from four different students in ninth grade. Then in the ninth grade, my grandparents took custody of me because of them I was able to have food pancakes in the morning bagels in the afternoon three meals a day and I had a toy poodle as a pet I started going to social services to talk to a guidance counselor for bipolar depression when I was 14. They helped me to get a guitar for my 15th birthday and cello lessons and I miss them dearly I clean the church with my Grandad every Saturday for two years and worked at Kings Dominion for one summer then I worked at the Ramada Inn cleaning rooms from 7 AM to 3 PM , after working at Sam Goody’s Music 🎶 store at the mall, they used to sell tape cassettes there,Omg ! The first CD I ever bought was Lauryn Hill the mis ~ education. That album is epic, got me through summer school when I was 16- 17 years working at Paramount’s Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia . Omg!

Then I moved to Philadelphia in the 10th grade for a magnet school aisle edition they said it was the best audition they’ve seen in 10 years then I dropped out and started working at a concert venue full time after I got my GED. Had to work at a Go ~ Go bar / escort for six or seven years while going through a love triangle & a sad and painful divorce. I was one of the only sober girls working at that bar . I smoked weed a few times regrettably.. though now am sober completely . I helped a roommate get her own apartment . She smoked weed three times a day in. I survived the girls gone wild phase with her in Mexico on Spring Break 2022 , that phase is finally over. Lesson learned . Sobriety is best at all times. Drink alcohol only in moderation folks , or not at all .

What about College ?

I always wanted to go to college didn’t know how to was told I would have to get a full scholarship. Though I didn’t because of a GED my awesome brother told me of he was a work study program at University in Colorado after being a manager of that concert venues in Philly Denver and he got a degree in honors for philosophy so I quit working at the gogo bar and you home at 29 years old after babysitting my 4 year old nephew, enrolled in school full-time worked three jobs until my minivan broke. I was volunteering then at the church to help the children on Wednesday night Awana Program Game Leader volunteering to help the kids there to memorize their Bible verses . However sadly, due to my Dad’s drug relapse and alcohol abuse in the past my education and mental health suffered from PTSD . I was diagnosed at 35 years old with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , after 30 years with no meds while managing my bipolar depression naturally . I was doing well until the Sabotage Express Train Rolled around … Omg ! Family , ….. are the worst sometimes. The ones that are supposed to be there for you the most are sadly sometimes there for you the least when you need them or worse sabotaging your life!

Because of my Dad & his lil sister’s shenanigans. I then was hospitalized for 4.5 months due to domestic violence & being framed by my Dad his lil Sister & Ex, Sad. had to drop out of my college courses at ASU Online after my cousin stole $5000 from me that was repaid by a very nice aunt who is nice when she wants to be , bless her , she helped me when I was trying to become a school teacher when her sisters daughter had stolen $3500 in college tuition loans and $1500 of my SSI Income, Sadly I had to unenroll unexpectedly because while I was working 3 jobs and online full time College Courses trying to become an elementary educator my first day of practicum failed b/c someone crashed their car into my Dad’s lil sister’s car on our driveway . A man trying to ‘ find his medication Gabapentin or other , though we don’t have a Pharmacy sign on our home that says Rite Aid , though I did work there PT when I was a teenager. I was helping my cousin with the animals then and home at night someone crashed their car as fast as they could 90 mph into my Dad’s younger sisters car parked in the driveway. Then the guy drove his car and ran over the stop sign knocking it down at night right next beside where I used to wait for my school bus for nine years! Omg couldn’t go to school/college the next day unphased by that and complete my practicum like a normal person due to severe PTSD trauma from fear of a man coming into the house possibly with a gun because I didn’t know who he was who crashed his car into my Aunt’s My uncle said The Police said he was looking for an extra refill of meds I wonder was it : GABAPENTIN 800 mg ? I think Auntie D ~ aka Freddie needs to put YoGabba on her license plate & quit selling those pills she gets from the pharmacy/ clinics . For real ! She made me promise and my dad also not to tell other people in my family that they were selling illegally. Maybe that that’s why I was beaten up by them several times when I was sober and put in a hospital for 4.5 months by my Dad and forced to take psych medication when I had not taken any for 30+ years Sadly , he gave me an ultimatum , if you want to come back and stay at home: he said I had to take a medication , after much Bullying . Really Dad why don’t you quit selling Yo Gabba are my thoughts .. I think he swallowed one pill for his neuropathy and gave her the other 89 to sell then : Dad . My Dad was with his little sister selling those for years and that man who crashed into Auntie Freddie’s red Toyota Sports car made me have worse PTSD , I couldn’t complete my school practicum had to withdraw from Edu 101 that was the most important class of my college courses towards becoming a school teacher then as a result of the domestic violence, had to secretly plan to move to a new town , so that I could try to go to college in a safe place with non smokers , in a smoke free village, yet there were some setbacks to going back to college : PTSD from Rape . Other trauma memories surfaced from 1985 . After nearly being evicted for protesting, a man for smoking weed on our property grounds and bullied around by his wife and minions , they seemed to really have a flaire for satanic decor, but they call themselves Christians. Let’s hope one day they find Christ. Hope that we are going to be safe through this. God bless this mess. Yikes…

I wonder if that poor girl’s family will ever believe her. Maybe they do , maybe it will be a while til they do , Jesus says to speak the truth to one another , Have a blessed life , everyone.

As for me as a child , at 8- 9 years old at night my Dad wasn’t there neither was my mom. She had to work at a night shift in the freezer department then I helped her to clean churches and we cleaned our church from the age of 11 to 17 helped my Mom clean houses for rich people. My Dad was not home neither was my Mom. She was working Night Shift. My Dad was on the road at night and I slept by myself went to school the next day and read an essay in the auditorium in front of the whole school then my Dad got arrested for cocaine possession & was on the front page of the Free Lance Star for a drug possession. Then he went to a mental hospital they called him Bipolar’, where did the chemical imbalance come from . Drugs probably, that’s where ..My Mom never had any problems with BipolarDisorder her whole life until she was 46 a year after she married her 3rd husband & went to a hospital after a domestic violence incident induced by marijuana’s cannabis’ psychotic side effects & too much corn whiskey , made my Mom bonkers & so my stepdad put her in a Mental hospital he had to pay 30 Grand to get her out of a month later. Bless her, she finally quit smoking that psychotropic plant . She was not Bipolar her whole life. Neither was my Dad . He graduated high school and then all of a sudden they diagnosed him bipolar at like 35 Yrs Was it bipolar or a chemical imbalance from the cocaine , crystal meth & heroin . I don’t know, I think he’s trying to stay sober now so that’s good. My Mom think  quit smoking that’s good , so did her husband , he quit smoking only after my Mom was diagnosed with Cancer after a painful mastectomy . Thank Goodness she’s cancer free .

Now, for that lady giving the young lady the chicken if only it was plant based protien that would be even more awesome! People need protein there’s no rule law that it has to come from a dead animal . Protein is protein people need it 19 g you can get it from plant based let’s hope that lady learned that I don’t know if she’ll learn it in college as a marine biologist giving all those dolphins fish but I’m happy that she has someone to help her. Thank you! O 🙂

🍰Let them eat cake ……or Cheryl Purcell blobbing blurb… Lovely …

“My daughter brought home a classmate for dinner. Didn’t ask permission. Just showed up with this girl at 5:30 on a Wednesday.
“Mom, this is Zoe. She’s eating with us.”

Not a question. A statement. My daughter Emma’s twelve, never done anything like this before.
Zoe looked uncomfortable. Skinny. Hoodie in September heat. Wouldn’t make eye contact.

I had exactly four chicken breasts thawed. For a family of four. Now we were five.
“Hi Zoe,” I said, mentally dividing portions. “Hope you like chicken.”
Dinner was awkward. Zoe ate like she was apologizing for it-tiny bites, kept saying “thank you” after every serving. My husband made small talk. She gave one-word answers.
Emma kept glaring at us like we were failing some test.

After Zoe left, I confronted Emma. “What was that about? You can’t just bring people home without asking.”
“She needed dinner.”
“What do you mean she needed”
“Mom. She needed dinner. There’s no food at her house. Her dad works nights. Her mom left. She eats school lunch and then nothing until breakfast.”
I felt sick. “How do you know this?”
“She told me. After she fainted in PE yesterday. The nurse gave her crackers and said eat breakfast. But Zoe doesn’t have breakfast.”
I sat down. “Why didn’t she tell a teacher? A counselor?”

Emma looked at me like I was stupid. “Because then they call CPS and she goes into foster care and her dad loses his job trying to fix it and everything gets worse. She just needs dinner, Mom. That’s it. Just dinner.”
Twelve years old and my daughter understood things I’d missed completely.
“Bring her tomorrow too,” I said.
Emma smiled. “Already told her.”

Zoe came Wednesday and Thursday. Then her dad’s schedule changed-he started working doubles. She came Monday through Friday. Ate quietly. Always said thank you. Never asked for anything.

Friday of week three, she finally looked at me. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because you’re hungry,” I said simply. “And we have food.”
“But you don’t know me.”
“I’m getting to know you.”

She cried. Right there at my kitchen table. Big, silent tears. “Nobody’s ever just…… helped before. Without wanting something.”
Turned out Zoe was brilliant. Straight A’s despite everything. Reading three grades ahead. Dreamed of being a marine biologist.
She graduated high school last month. Full scholarship to university. Gave a speech at graduation, thanked teachers, counselors, friends.

Then she said, “And to Mrs. Patterson, who fed me dinner for four years without making me feel broken. You taught me that needing help doesn’t mean you’re helpless. Thank you for setting an extra plate.”

I didn’t know she’d say that. Wasn’t expecting it. Cried through the whole rest of the ceremony.
Here’s the truth, I’m not special. I just made extra chicken. Let a kid eat at my table. That’s it.

But apparently that was everything to someone who had nothing.
Emma’s sixteen now. Still brings people home. Last week it was a boy whose parents kicked him out for being gay. Week before, a girl whose family’s electricity got shut off and all their food spoiled.

She doesn’t ask anymore. Just sets extra plates.
And I make more chicken.
Look around. Someone at your kid’s school is hungry. Not “food insecure” -hungry. Right now. Today.

You don’t need programs or donations or committees.
Just set an extra plate.
That’s it. That’s everything.”

So the post that I just shared is in response to what my cousin just posted about it made me reflect on my own life…. And childhood and present day , situation.

Now, if only it could be plant-based chicken! Lol

Thank you for eating if you have food and you’re not starving and parents who are sober that don’t do drugs and weren’t shelter, clothing, friends people you can trust and people who are kind to you even if they are not your family because sometimes family are good but sometimes our friends are more like family than our real family are at times. This is the moral of that story. Oh and be sober ! I also realize the reason that I have an education is because my dad was working at Night Shift to pay for the house that we lived in and my mom had to work even with food benefits. We didn’t have enough money for our family of four though buying drug drugs doesn’t help that was where the money went to that it shouldn’t have gone to, and where the problem began . So be sober , Okay. It helps to find a good people who are sober in church learn about Jesus and be resourceful. Is always good that there were people to help me when my parents couldn’t and they could not because of the people that brought drugs around them and those people should be in jail if they continue to try to sell drugs to people that have children that need to be with their parents because parents shouldn’t be doing drugs around their children anyhow, sometimes that’s one of the reasons why children don’t have food at home is because their parents are messed up from buying drugs ! So is best to be sober

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌼🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Blessings ,

April Joines

Blessings,

April Joines • Melody Sera

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

https://www.youtube.com/@apriljoines