Tag: child abuse
Their kind of pretty
Beautiful? Yes, I know I am. Though, it took me years to take such compliments gracefully. Not because I don’t see my own beauty; my own worth. I...
Ghost stories
There's this trick to surviving trauma. You become a ghost. If you leave your body long enough, you can't feel anything. There's no exact...
Dream mother
I had a dream that you were proud of me. You walked next to me and smiled and squeezed my hand, and that’s how I knew it...
Dish towels
The first lesson you taught me was how to fold the dish towels: First in half then one more half, and if I mess it up again, you’ll...
The children
I used to hoard apples until they were rotten. Green ones, not red. They would stay in the closet until I could no longer eat them,...
Dissociation
It streaked into my vision and startled me, a gray blur in the corner of my eye. Then I saw it— inches from my...
I was never broken
I'll never forgive you for what you did. But I'll also never forget what I realized in the months that followed after you so...
Writing about my abuser, healing and hard-earned magic
I made a deal with myself: if my dad was too painful to write about, I would stop, knowing my healing wasn’t complete.
Recommended Reading
The acknowledgement
I’m trying to be gentle with myself, but what if I never believe my body when it tells me what happened?
Have the time of your life!*
*Common side effects may include but are not limited to: harassment, stalking, getting drugged, passing out in...
To the fathers who do not abuse their daughters
On my street I am witness to the young men who carry the pink-flowered backpacks of little girls, who...
