Got pregnant at 15 with my father's baby, was given an abortion by my mother. Was abused from infancy until I finally left and then was raped twice. Needless to say, my siblings and I were a mess. My siblings haven't recovered so well. They chose a life of crime and drugs, last time I saw them was at my Mother's funeral in 1976. I was pulled out of high school at 16 to work in a factory. I chose to look for a path that wouldn't lead me down the same road so many like us take. I have SUCCESSFULLY overcome this, although I've struggled all my life, I now earn over $100K a year and have done much work during my life regarding this issue, locally. I reconciled with my 75 yr old father 3 years ago. I had to make a decision to stop waiting for him to admit what he did, he simply was not going to do that. I survived cancer and when one faces death there seems to be a lot of baggage that comes to the surface that we can choose to take with us, or let go of it. I chose to let go of the anger because it was weighing me down.
There seem to always be issues that crop up in my life, still, that I either don't know how to deal with or run from, but I think that's to be expected. Once I realize that I need to face that particular issue and deal with it head on, I usually come out the victor. I'm now 53 and although my weight is and has always been the last thing that keeps me a victim, I struggle daily to over come that. It occured to me recently that there have been very few times in my life that I have not been scared. I don't even know how to check the message board here, but I hope in some small way I've helped one person to realize that it's ultimately up to us. What we choose to do with the cards we're dealt with at birth is OUR CHOICE once we become adults! Congratulations to all you survivors out there!
