My parents were strict with us kids at home. I was adopted into my family with three older siblings. I felt I got the brunt of everything when it came to the rules of the house. All of us children had chores that had to be finished before we were allowed to play with our friends. If my parents found out I listened to anything other than the Christian radio station, my parents took my radio away. My parents dragged us to church three days a week. I felt as though I was supervised more than my other siblings were. My other siblings were allowed to stay out late and go places whenever they asked. I wanted to be able to have the same freedom my 17 year old brothers had, only at the age of 14. So, one night, my best friend and I decided to sneak out of the house. I would never forgot that night.
Dad was in charge of watching us kids while mom was out of town for the weekend. My brothers and sister were staying the night at other friends’ houses, this was the best time to have my best friend Ashley stay the night, we would have the whole downstairs to ourselves without anyone to bother us. Dad gave me permission to have Ashley stay the night. Without delay, I called and invited Ashley over for the night. We were bound to have a fun time together; just like we usually did when we spent time together. Except this night was different, we were going to sneak out of the house. Would my Dad hear us? Could we get out of the house without the dogs barking and waking up Dad? It would be the first time I had ever tried sneaking out. Could we get away with it? If my parents found out, I might not ever be able to have a friend stay the night ever again!
It was a brisk August night, and Dad had already gone to bed for the night, Just after midnight, Ashley and I put on our sweaters to prepare to leave the house and go for a walk. Trying not to make a sound, I slowly opened the old wooden window that led to the outside of the house. We quietly