My name is Joseph Behnke, and I’m more than just the author of Before 18: In Joseph’s Footsteps and Before 18: The Untold Stories of Drug Abuse — I’m the person who lived them, breathed them, and carried them in silence for far too long.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a storm inside me. One filled with moments I couldn’t forget, wounds that never seemed to close, and questions I never felt safe enough to ask out loud. Growing up wasn’t soft. It wasn’t simple. It wasn’t safe. I was exposed to things no child should have to carry — and yet I carried them, day after day, year after year.

These books started in the quiet. In late-night journal entries. In phone notes I typed just to get the weight off my chest. At first, I didn’t think I’d ever show anyone. But the more I wrote, the more I realized: this wasn’t just my pain. This was the pain of so many people like me — young, unheard, and surviving in silence.

I didn’t come from privilege. I didn’t have a ghostwriter or a big publishing deal waiting in my inbox. What I had was a voice — raw, unfiltered, and still healing — and the courage to use it. I didn’t write Before 18 because I had it all figured out. I wrote it because I didn’t. And that honesty… that’s what makes it real.

I’m only 19 years old. And people ask me all the time, “Why write a memoir so young?”

The answer is simple: because I’ve already lived through things that changed me forever. And I know I’m not the only one. These books aren’t about looking back decades later — they’re about speaking now, while the memories are fresh, the emotions are sharp, and the truth still hurts… but also heals.

I don’t write for fame. I write for healing.

I write because I know someone out there needs to hear this.

And I write because turning pain into purpose might be the most powerful thing I’ll ever do.

If you’ve made it this far — thank you. For reading. For being curious. For showing up. You are now part of this journey. And I truly hope these books become part of yours, too.

Because Before 18 isn’t just my memoir.

It’s proof that your story — no matter how hard, no matter how messy — is worth telling.

With love,

Joseph Behnke