Thanks. I hesitated to write it (I actually wrote it a couple years ago), then I hesitated to post it, then I wondered if it should have a trigger warning. But then I realized that if anyone got past the headline, they were probably beyond the point of needing a trigger warning. Maybe I should have made a general survivor warning, but most survivors I know are pretty well equipped for handling the written word. Thanks for reading, and sorry if it brought up bad memories. I think anyone who interacts with you knows what a great person you are.
The headline got me. And it’s true survivors of family violence typically can handle things like this. I thought it was poignant and well done. I’ve often thought about how to explain my personal experiences without freaking people out! 😬. Thank you too, Charles. You’re pretty great yourself!
I was so caught up in the story that I forgot to mention that it is very well written. So much horror to take in.
I'm still processing this:
"I didn’t want to say that I saw their grandmother pour boiling water over his head. I didn’t want to tell him that I wanted to look for scars underneath his thick blond hair. I didn’t want to talk about it at all."
Much of my childhood is completely blacked out. Like a memory wipe. I spent years in therapy trying to find some of it, but it just never wanted its stories told. There are some ugly snippets, so as I've grown older, I've decided the memory wipe is probably for the best.
I am missing many memories of my piss-poor childhood and that's a good thing.
A blessing, of sorts.
Now, I don't know if that's due to the fact that it was a horrible way to grow up or if my memory banks were damaged by having a Mack truck drive into and kill me in 1984. I didn't stay dead for long...about 20 minutes, and I did get to visit the Other Side, but now I have major memory gaps.
Entire years are no longer available. My brother will mention an event from our childhood and when I reach into my mind "to check out that book from my mental library" - so to speak, that shelf is empty. There is absolutely nothing there in my mind. It's as if it never happened. Or, as you said, that data has been wiped.
I remember sledding now in South Park in Quincy, Illinois. Good cold fun.
The child abuse? I lived it. Not hot boiling water, but plenty of slapping around by my angry, lunatic father. 🙄
Really well written....made me feel.
Thanks. I hesitated to write it (I actually wrote it a couple years ago), then I hesitated to post it, then I wondered if it should have a trigger warning. But then I realized that if anyone got past the headline, they were probably beyond the point of needing a trigger warning. Maybe I should have made a general survivor warning, but most survivors I know are pretty well equipped for handling the written word. Thanks for reading, and sorry if it brought up bad memories. I think anyone who interacts with you knows what a great person you are.
The headline got me. And it’s true survivors of family violence typically can handle things like this. I thought it was poignant and well done. I’ve often thought about how to explain my personal experiences without freaking people out! 😬. Thank you too, Charles. You’re pretty great yourself!
Truth is truth--difficult or not. Glad you wrote this.
Thank you, Maryan!
I was so caught up in the story that I forgot to mention that it is very well written. So much horror to take in.
I'm still processing this:
"I didn’t want to say that I saw their grandmother pour boiling water over his head. I didn’t want to tell him that I wanted to look for scars underneath his thick blond hair. I didn’t want to talk about it at all."
Thanks, Ellen. It honestly wasn't easy to write. Not at all cathartic, quite frankly.
You have such a way of painting pictures. And BTW, I'm going downstairs to see if that old Thingmaker is still around...and I'm getting rid of it!!!
Thank you. That means a lot to me for you to say that. Yeah, those bugs were a big problem. My sister hated finding one under her pillow.
Saved to read later when I am unbusy. Thank you for this.
How did anyone ever manage to escape childhood alive?
Much of my childhood is completely blacked out. Like a memory wipe. I spent years in therapy trying to find some of it, but it just never wanted its stories told. There are some ugly snippets, so as I've grown older, I've decided the memory wipe is probably for the best.
I am missing many memories of my piss-poor childhood and that's a good thing.
A blessing, of sorts.
Now, I don't know if that's due to the fact that it was a horrible way to grow up or if my memory banks were damaged by having a Mack truck drive into and kill me in 1984. I didn't stay dead for long...about 20 minutes, and I did get to visit the Other Side, but now I have major memory gaps.
Entire years are no longer available. My brother will mention an event from our childhood and when I reach into my mind "to check out that book from my mental library" - so to speak, that shelf is empty. There is absolutely nothing there in my mind. It's as if it never happened. Or, as you said, that data has been wiped.
Wow, a Mack truck! What an amazing tale of survival you must be. And I have so many questions now.
I was really hoping this was one of your fiction stories, but it didn’t feel like fiction. Yikes.
Thanks. I couldn’t create characters like this. They’re too far removed from my soul. Russell Banks, I ain’t.