In my fictional memoir, entitled "Revelation Road," my existence could end with two possible scenarios: a hopeful reality defined by romantic love or a hopeless reality characterized by poverty and unregulated mental illness. Poverty acts as an escape mechanism or a coping mechanism, depending on person, environment, and social conditioning; in my case it was a coping mechanism to confront reality. During the formative years of my childhood development in the suburbs, dysfunction, pain, and trauma molded me into an unhealthy adult with a manipulative personality who lacked self-sufficiency...