I went from a MILLION DOLLAR home to the streets of Las Vegas

So I will be blunt...It all started because I had an affair. I had been married for 20 years and although I had everything I needed and a lot of my wants, I was unhappy with marriage. Looking back on it now I wish I would have done things totally different. I know "everything happens for a reason" and I am a true believer of that but if I knew what I was in for over the next 10 years, my actions would have been totally different!

That was the end of my marriage and life as I knew it.

My husband and I split up and I started dating this "affair" guy. 12 years younger then me, at the time I was 35 he was 23....that should have been my first clue. It all started exciting having fun with Sean (the affair guy), traveling, partying just having a blast. Little did I know he was a raging alcoholic that has past rape and a semi full of baggage. I have always partied but was never a hard drinker mostly always social drinking. So little by little the money dwindled (actually really quickly). I had began drinking all the time with him and running out of money fast. I started to pawn my jewelry. My 10K diamond wedding ring for $500. That was gone overnight. My $5000 anniversary ring next all the way until I had nothing. I couldn't pay my rent because I never worked and was partying too much to get a job. I was evicted and dead broke within 3 months. I was forced to come back to Colorado because that is where all my family was.

The shit started hitting the fan....on full blast! One thing after another and another. The alcohol became a huge problem. He drank Vodka and was mentally and physically abusive to me. I had to drink with just to be able to deal with him. As time went on we were on and off as he was cheating on me from the beginning. Ya...I know, to be honest I have NO clue why I was doing this to myself. Some days would be fun and others would be complete HELL!

At the time I still had my car so we decided to drive to Vegas with enough money for gas. Try and make a fresh start. WRONG!! We were sleeping in my car, and ended up making friends with numerous homeless people in the streets in Vegas right on the strip. I started as a party. We were hanging out with them all on the streets and just getting hammered drunk so we didn't care about anything. We met alot of great people and had alot of fun until we eventually lost the car.

Sleeping on the streets is not easy. Vegas was the only place that it was an ok experience because you could get cash, food and alcohol from tourists. I saw so many crazy unbelievable things happen!! Once my purse was stolen it was over. I lost my ID , Phone, Social Security card and everything I had.

Did you know that it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get your identity back?? I didn't until that until then. Without and ID, a home address, out of home state, access to a computer and money, you can't even get your birth certificate. So here I am with nothing, hanging out with lots of different kinds of homeless people...drunk and fucked. Hey at least I had my Sean right? No, he broke 2 of my ribs, punched my in the face and threw me across the room hitting my head on the end of the table. (this was just one of the nights we had a room to stay in).

I have so many stories about this that I will continue to share as otherwise this would be a couple hour long read.

In the end I finally gave up and in and called my friend back home. He got us back home after about 3 months and let us stay with him in his 1 bedroom condo. I got my identity back but lost my dignity, my sanity, my family and so much more.

Since then I have realized how much that experience and those people who became my friends have completely changed my thoughts in so many ways. I am grateful for the food in front of me, the roof over my head. It has made me appreciate the little things that we just don't think about normally. I have so much love for some of my homeless friends but sadly most of them are gone now. Drugs, alcohol, murder etc.

I saw rich men homeless from gambling and got stuck there and lost it all. I saw drug aditcts who never wanted to get off the street. I saw couples that lost it all and ended up there. I met train hoppers and even a young man who had auditioned for America's got talent. I saw mental illness and I was normal people who lost it all. All in all....everyone in this world deserves respect.

You DO NOT know someones life, personallity or what got them on the streets. We all deserve help and love. I would like to keep writing about my experiences! Please let me know if you would like to hear more!