Jason Kramer, age 18

Rockland, ME

I'm estranged from my parents back in Albany. I got in trouble for drug use with the police, and after that my family pretty much gave up on me and that really hurt me so I just ended up leavin'. I got picked up by a traveling carnival that comes here to the Rockland Lobster Show or whatever, and I ended up here. I love Maine. It's quiet and huge and beautiful and there's not buildings everywhere...

What's not to say about drugs? They suck, they're stupid and they'll screw up everything. Drugs will ruin your life. I did them and I liked them and I got into 'em really heavy. And then I just started makin' poor choices. I had everything goin' for me. I was on the right track; my family was so proud of me. I went to a private military academy in New York and after three years of almost makin' it I dropped out in my final year. Started runnin' away from home every other day and just bad stuff, stealin' money, doin' whatever I could to get wrecked, basically. Me and my mom got along until a certain point. Once I started screwin' up though, my mom got so disappointed in my choices that she just couldn't bear to look at me anymore.

I'd have to say childhood memories make me the happiest. I look back at all the pictures I have of all my family and I kind of miss it a lot. I remember spending time with my puppy and my grandfather. 'Cause when I was younger my grandfather was so proud that I was a boy and I was the first one born. He bet on it, matter of fact. He was like, "I know this is gonna be a boy." Me and my grandfather spent a lot of my childhood years together...

Me and my girlfriend, the mother of my child, were together for maybe seven months. I mean, we were off and on, fighting all the time but for some reason we stayed together and had a beautiful boy. I actually left while she was pregnant. She had cheated on me one night with one of my good friends. It really set me off. You know she was with me, and then she was with him... I was so angry. I know it is my child now. I know it is for a fact. He looks like he got pulled right out of my butt.

I wanted a boy. It could've been anything, but I was really psyched that I had a boy. I would've just been disappointed in myself if it was a girl. I spend almost every free moment I have with him. I would like to get married someday, have a family. One boy, a wife, and me, and a big dog.

I don't do the heavy drugs anymore. I smoke my weed or whatever, but. And I still got a crazy part of me.

Family is important. Family is one of the most important things in life I think. If there is such a thing as a perfect family, though, I've never seen one.