Three Little Words By Ashley Rhodes-Courter

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Three Little Words
Introduction
Three Little Words is a book written by Ashley Rhodes-Courter that expounds on her life and the hardships that she faced during her time in foster care. Ashley’s mother, Lorraine Rhodes, was unequipped to take care of Ashley and her younger brother Luke. Ashley and Luke were taken away from their mother at a young age and were placed in foster care. They would live with several different families before settling with their adoptive parents. During a nine-year stretch, Ashley had nineteen foster parents. With each foster family, she made memories. Some of the memories were good and some were awful. The accommodations of some of the homes were not exquisite. They were often overcrowded, filthy, and in poor condition …show more content…

During their stay, they were neglected and abused. On one occasion, Ashley had to vomit and did not make to the bathroom in time. She vomited on the carpet. Ashley recalled the event by stating, “She gripped my hair and pushed my face into my puke” (Rhodes- Courter, p. 68). On other accounts, she was spanked with a spoon and was forced to drink hot sauce. Whenever she expressed the way she was treated at the home, no action was taken. She would never forget her experiences during her time with the Mosses. One day, Ashley was watching the news and saw that the Mosses had been arrested. This would lead Ashley too seek legal action against the Mosses. She did everything she could to form a case against the Mosses, even reaching out to other children who were in the home during the time she was. Ashley was distraught when Mrs. Moss only received five years of probation. She felt powerless. Gay reminded her that even though the case was over, she could still tell her story through her speeches and writings.
I admire Ashley’s fight against the Mosses. She had so much fight and willpower as a child. Most children I know would not be able to deal with such issues. I would have been tired of the long legal process and would have just let it be. It was so important to her to seek justice because after all the times that she told the truth about the abuse she faced, she was accused of lying. She fought so that no other kids would be abused by the Mosses. I love the fact that she realized that her voice could be a voice for foster children all around the