>Most people couldn't handle doing half of what your going
>through, let alone all at the same time.

The situation I spoke about is just one of many. In all honesty it's just par for the course and I've got a thousand similar stories going back to my childhood. There's just a lot of awful, awful shit that's happened to my siblings and I from the beginning. Our family is a disaster.

Point being, I believe many people would be able to handle it. We tend to adapt to our surroundings and develop survival mechanisms and learn to cope.

I'm often told by those who know me intimately that I am unique in the way I've turned out in spite of the childhood I had, but.... I dunno how true that is. I can't say I've come across many with stories that add up to mine, though I've met people who make me ashamed to say I've had it rough, and that's saying something. It's always a mixed bag though. Every last update I've gotten regarding other kids I was in foster care with is a bad one, but on a professional level (I worked for a Foster Family Agency for several years) I've seen quite a few amazing success stories.

My own family is a mixed bag with about 4 doing reasonably well, three struggling and 2 being a lost cause that I sadly can't even hope for anymore. I have one sister who had to move back in with my mom for a few months, so she's actually living with all this crap right now. She's one of the 4 and on her way out next week, thank God.

I think people who are already reasonably well adjusted with a support system in place would likely handle it quite well, for the most part. I think people such as myself who have always been a little unhinged/unstable and sort of walking that thin line of sanity.... I think that's where the waters get murky and things are harder to read from person to person.

Not trying to be contentious or anything, that comment simply gave me food for thought and I felt like chewing the fat a little :).