Take Back The Night 2014

April 30th was our local Take Back The Night, and as always it was emotional, informative and empowering.  The theme was Keep Calm and Talk About It which as you know is very important to me - not only for self healing but also to raise awareness.

This past year alone in one county, in PA, VIP has helped 88adult and 34children in cases of sexual assault!  The numbers are alarming - that was just ONE county in ONE state.

This year a specialist came in to talk to us about sex trafficking.  The numbers there also alarming and watching and learning how it's happening all over the country and even in small towns was scary.  I will be gathering more info and will post a future blog about it.

If you haven't yet gone to a Take Back The Night, I encourage you to find one near you (your local college or VIP should be able to have the information for you).

The survivors who spoke last night did a fantastic job!!  It's really neat to see how everyone heals and expresses themselves in their own way.  So powerful and strong they were!!  One sung a song, one wrote her story in a poem that tore at your heart, and one even made a video where she did make up and told her whole story of how she was raped at such a young age and how she overcame that.  Such strong women!!

Their stories and the event itself really makes me want to open my blog up to others to share so it would be like last year long.  But I will have to figure out how to do that... For now I'll leave you with my speech from last night, and a few images....

My turn to share

We live in a world where we don't want people to know our failures, our imperfections, or our discolored past.  When we talk about ourselves to other people or share things on social media we often portray our lives in the best light as we can.  I am very guilty of this.  Every year I write up a Christmas newsletter and tell our family and friends all that has happened in the past year trying to make things appear like we're doing fantastic, no matter what problems we're facing.

I try each year to get up and give an inspiring speech and try also to have an uplifting and inspiring blog...

I don't believe that people would be so inspired to know all the truth...that we struggle each month to make our bills, have been homeless, and that I often feel like a failure.  Well tonight, as I still hope to inspire and uplift, I'm going to tell you about my discolored past, my failures, and how imperfect I am. 

By the age of 25 you're suppose to have life figured out, aren't you??  Know who you are, what you want to do, and to be on your way to accomplishing something. Well that's not me.  In December I had a very hard time with this and struggled to find meaning in my life.

Last Spring, my family moved south to start a new and better life, so I thought, but all our plans failed and the week before Christmas my husband was laid off; for the New Year we were looking at being homeless.  This is not the was it's suppose to be once you have children. By now I should have graduated college, and bee well on my way to a successful career. 

I was told by my grandmother how I would amount to nothing.  I wasn't smart, and how fat I was.  That I was a liar, and no good for anything.  Growing up hearing this has ill effects on your view of yourself as you can imagine.  Every time I fail, I think back to her harsh words -- and I've failed a LOT.

Family can be cruel.  This I know only too well.  Family can sometimes inflict the worst pain.  You trust them to protect you, to love you, and to support you.  If you're lucky you will have family that does just that.  For me I've had family on both sides.  On the one side of my family I learned how o never trust anyone, that your own flesh and blood can betray you.  How a father who should be the one to always protect his baby girl could be the one to tell her something was right although it was wrong.  I was taught how everything has a price.  There was no support for dreams, instead they were crushed and I was put down time and time again.  Lucky for me I also had another side to my family...the family that was my rock and support is here tonight for me, they've shown me what it means to be a part of a family - to love and always be there for one another especially in dark times.  They've never once turned their back on me or said any foul words.

I've learned over the years that while you don't get to choose the family that gives birth to you, but you can chose the family you belong to.  It took me a long time to move out of my abusive home - but once I did I cut all ties with the family members who cause me such pain.

Unfortunately while I've left the people who hurt me behind, the scars that were cause by my past will always be on me.  They follow me around and never fully heal.Time has healed my physical scars so you can hardly see where I use to heat tweezers and burn my legs, but time hasn't erased my memories.  They will always be with me... in fact the more time that goes by, the older I get the more I worry.  I worry about my girls having to face this cruel world.  I want to hide them away so they will never know any pain - as a parent that is probably our biggest wish.

For me, I almost didn't have children because if both my father and grandfather could molest me then how could I ever trust someone else enough to have children with them? How could I take that chance?  I'm thankful everyday that I changed my mind and for my girls - they bring meaning to my life - but everyday I worry about them growing up, and I have flash back and pray that they will never go through what I did.  My memories will be a constant reminder that my worry is justified, and that is why it's important to stay calm and talk about my story with others.

I thought that after all  that I'd gone through in my first 17 years that I deserved a break and I'd prove everyone wrong by becoming something great.  But here I was, 25 and a failure!  I dropped out of college, not just once but twice.  I tried to have my own business not once, but twice, both of which didn't go successfully.

As we were preparing our move back north I told my husband one evening how I was feeling about everything.  He looked at me and said, "Life might be hard right now, things aren't going the way we planned, but never think yourself a failure.  Your grandparents on that evil side of your family were sick people.  You are great. You are a good mother to our two girls, look at them and how well you're taking care of them, and all the love they know.  You might not have any glamours job but not everyone is meant to have a fancy job.  And don't forget how close to your heart Take Back The Night is, I think you're doing great and meaningful things trying to inspire other survivors."  That is one of the reasons he is my husband.  He's shown me that there is good in the world, that I can talk about my past and share my pain with him.  He encourages me in all that I want to do, and supports me in not only speaking here each year but also writing my blog about overcoming my past as often as I can.  He also knows how to show me how my view of myself (when negative) is wrong.  He knows how to lift me up when I'm down.

Each year brings us hardships and blessings. Every person, even if they seem perfect to you, has their hard times, failures, and skeletons.  Each of us has our own scars and pain, but we each also have something special to bring to the world, you might not see it yet but it's there.  And each of you who share your past, you bring about awareness and hope for others.  Everyone here, just by being here (supporting us at TBTN rallies) you help to bring light to the darkness and encouragement to us all to speak out against abuse.

One more thing I want to share with you..

I have a poster set up full of comments of support and encouragement I've received about my blog that I want to share with each of you - because they aren't just for me, but for everyone who shares.  There's an image below but for those reading this check out this blog entry that also has all the comments in full that you can read.

My display at TBTN

While I've been told that I'm strong for talking about it - the truth is...that while I hope that my blog and talking here helps someone - it really helps me a lot, it's my own therapy.  Keep Calm and Talk about it.  It's really hard standing up here in front of people and sharing, and I remember how scared I was the first time I ever went to get help and having to talk about it - but after - my gosh it feels so good to get it all out!

It gets easier the more you do it - Stay Calm and Talk about It.  I've been speaking at or at least writing something for tonight - gosh I think 8 or 9 years now, it does get easier to speak, and it feels so good to get my thoughts, feelings, and story off my chest.  Oh I still have my secretes, details of my past that I have not yet shared - they weigh down on me - but I'm not yet ready to tell them - and that's OK, I think, because telling what I do helps immensely. 

Keep Calm and Talk about it and I think you'll feel a sense of freedom from it, I know I do.

No Justice

I'm sorry in advance.  I normally try to be positive and up lifting - but I don't think this post is going that way, but this is my story, and my feelings and I want them out there.

After finishing my last post I was left with having just relived all the feeling I had gone through during those years.  I was so Angry that Rick was, not just one the same farm as me, or road, but even that he was in the same state - and loose!!  I hated that he was free to go do whatever he wanted, although on paper he was to stay so many feet away from kids.

I know he went to jail - for a couple years, then was on parole, and now free...

Why?

How?

I don't get it!!

Because I kept my mouth shut about what Jim did for so long he never went to jail or anything before he died.  He lived the life he wanted until he died - because I was afraid of admitting to what had been going on.

I feel like there is no justice for the victim.  We are the ones most hurt here,  We are the ones that have to deal with the memories of what was done to us, or what we had to do.  We are the ones knowing that there is a limited amount of jail time for our abuser - and then they are out!  We are the one who have a hard time trusting anyone - for we know that people are capable of unspeakable things!  We are the ones who lost the wonder of childhood!!  Who learned about sex way before we should have.  We are the ones who have to deal with what we went through for the rest of our lives.  We are the ones who have to pay for therapy (if we can afford to do so...if not we're left to try to find comfort some other way).

So why is it that the abuser gets to go back to his/her life?!

I will never get my childhood back, yet Rick is back to working around school buses and doing whatever he wishes.  Jim never felt the weight of being convicted guilty over what he had done to me.  All I can hope for there is that there is some sort of God that will rule the ultimate Judgement for him (but then I'm not even sure that I believe in God...Heaven, Hell....a lot of teachings I just can't follow or believe in....but believing that there is some sort of ultimate Judgement is all that we have left)

Here's one more thing that just makes me so mad:

Why is it that the news covered that they were looking for Rick (image right) of a suspected rape of a 6 year old girl (I was only 6 - I didn't know the difference.  I said he put his "thing" into my "thing" when I finally told someone what was happening....I didn't realize the difference) But there was no follow up article telling how he had run to Canada, then came back and confessed to molesting me and had a jail sentence?  Why would you not follow up a wanted/looking for article with a Found/Convicted article??



One last bitter thought... Justice is something hard to bring to any victim.  But I think if we can't quarantine all sex offenders and murders in some Godforsaken part of the world to rot, then why can't we at least mark each one who has been convicted?  A big black forehead tattoo saying S.O.B. (Sex Offending Bastard) would do well.  Then at least everyone who has been convicted will have no way to hide it!!  Parents will be able to easily spot them and keep their kids away and other people can view them for the low lives they are!  Then there's no way for them to hurt anyone else again.
Sadly there will still be people out there because not everyone is convicted because sexually based crimes are very under reported.
But the marking would help!!

Why is it that if they were convicted before Megan's law they they don't go on Megan's List??
I don't care that Rick hasn't been charged since.  I don't think people change - not abusers.  I was his daughter - the one person in the world he should have never had any sexual thoughts about - a child non the less!
He took away my childhood innocence - his own daughter - what makes anyone think he wouldn't do it again to another??

I was a victim.  I am now a survivor - my past has not held me down - but I will always have my invisible scars that will haunt me.

Take the Step

I found this on Pinterest and fell in love with it because it's so true and inspiring.  The quote can be applied to any area of your life.
I think everyone should print the image or write out the quote and hang it in their office, on the fridge, or tape it to a diary.  Put it somewhere where you can see it everyday to remind you that it only takes one small step to make a change - move in the right direction - and you can change everything.

Change rarely happens overnight, it takes time, courage, strength, and a series of steps.
Some people make change by jumping steps with both feet, while others tentatively take small steps to get there - both will get there; both will do great because they each make the step in the right direction.
Le me use weight loss for an example...A person doesn't just wake up one morning being 50 pounds lighter, they have to take the first step towards weight loss to see a difference.
Person A might hire a personal trainer, and dramatically change their diet all in that first step, and keep going until they meet their goal.
Person B might have a harder time making such big changes so instead one day they might cut down on the amount of soda they drink, then they might trade a Big Mac for a burger they make at home and load with veggies, then they start going for a walk each day after work, and so on, and so on, making small changes until they realize they've done it.

Every step you take has an impact on your life.  In order to make it better, that step has to have meaning and go in the right direction.

I'm a mix of Person A and B, depending on what the change is.

Changing my life from an abusive house hold I was living in to the loving one I came to know more was hard.  I can admit that.  It took small steps and time and I was scared the whole way.

Compared to that first change in my life all others I'd jump at and they were easy compared to leaving my abusive home at the age of 16.  I've quite smoking 3 times, this last time did it and I haven't craved a cigarette in 2 years!  I did that cold turkey; I woke up one morning not liking the way I felt or the smell of smoke and decided to stop.  My husband had a harder time quitting and had to wean himself off the cancer sticks slowly.

It doesn't matter how you have to go about making a better path for yourself - just take the step!  Apply this to whatever area of your life you have/want to.

For those going through abuse - there is no better time than now to seek help and get out!!  For those who are working on overcoming your past - there is help.  Just keep placing one foot in front of the other.

I can still remember the steps I took to get out of my abusive home...

I believe I was in 10th grade when I learned that Rick was around our 15acer home - working with the buses, and helping build the new log home Jen and Jim were building.  My Uncle to whom I was close to, Slade, told me about Rick being around - only he wasn't suppose to, but he thought I had a right to know.  Slade asked me to promise to not tell anyone that he told me or even that I knew.  From then on I couldn't sleep well, and I really didn't feel safe.  I went to school one day and told my guidance counselor that Rick was around.  I don't remember the whole conversation but I was set up then with a counselor from.V.I.P. to deal with my emotional issues from Rick molesting me when I was a child.  At first I thought, "Ha! I don't have any emotional issues - that happened years ago! I'm fine! I just want this asshole to stay far, far away!!!"  Latter that week I met the lady from V.I.P and we met once a week until I graduated high school.
When I entered 11th grade we moved into the finished log home.  That's when I saw Rick out starting buses and once heard him in the house - Jen told me to stay in my room and not come out.  I was 16, I knew he was in the house talking to her, that she didn't want me to see him, and that she thought I was clueless.... At this time I started to get more help from VIP and my school counselors.  Children and Youth came to my school and told me they'd have to come to my home and interview me.  I'd have to tell them what was going on, only thing was that they asked me these questions including if I felt safe with Jen and Jim sitting at the table with me.  I was a coward and said that I was happy and safe there - not just once but twice!!
The kicker is that all this time Jim was abusing me as well - but I didn't tell anyone that until after I was out of the house.

The last time Children and Youth came out, Jen made me write a letter saying how I forgave Rick and felt safe.  I have the letter still and maybe another day I'll share it all on here.  I was smart and copied it word for word onto another piece of paper and took it to school with me.  I went straight to my counselor's office and gave it to her.  That is the point at which my life changed.  I spent the whole day with her.  We called lawyers, my mom, and other services, that night I didn't do the same as I had done so many times before but rather my mom picked me up and I went home with her - and started my life all over again.

All the steps I took were hard in their own way.  The first step, talking to the counsler, was the biggest because it helped me know that there was help and that I wasn't alone or totally damaged.  That step made such a difference in my life.  I learned to deal with everything and to seek help and it's the step that set in motion all the changes and that allowed me to get out of the abuse.

Whatever you're facing or wanting to accomplish, take the step forward.  It may be scary but it's worth it and you'll thank yourself in the end.  Best of wishes :)

Words of Support...

Last week a post I had written in August was shared on Facebook by someone to a group about one of the schools that has Davis Buses.  The post was shared a bunch and all the comments I saw were so full of reassurance that I had done the right thing and full of praise that I was close to tears reading what everyone had said.

I wish I had had all those comments and known that so many people would have stood behind me back when I was in school going through everything.  Back then I was living with a dark secrete that I was told to never talk about because according to Gen and Jim "People would think poorly of me.  Kids in shool would pick on me.  And, why would I want to tell anyone what happened, it's in the past!"

In the past it might be but I haven't forgotten...in some ways I wish I could...but it will always be with me.  And when the abuser is still alive and not just them but you know the ugly truth that not everyone can be trusted so once you have kids you'll do anything to look out for them and protect them.

When I was younger I felt like Gen and Jim ruled the world and that I was small and insingifanct.  I didn't want to get picked on, or yelled at for telling anyone - so it was years that I kept the secrete.  Finally talking about it was really hard for me - but it's gotten easier over the years, and now that I've opened up I realized it wasn't me they were worried for but themselves.
Maybe that's why speaking out about what happened to me and sharing the comments of support from others below is so important to me.  I hated the way I felt growing up and I don't think anyone should have to feel that way.  I also want to bring hope to those who have gone through abuse and to those who are being abused.  The victims currently being suppressed are the ones who need the words of encouragement the most - they need to know that they have support to come forward and to get help - and that they won't be picked on -it takes a lot of strength to get help - to stand up against those who have done such harm to you.

So now I'll share all the comments I saw with you in hopes that others who need the support and a reminder that stepping forward to get help, and shareing their story with others is a good thing.  **Note: if you're a male survivor or victim reading this please just adjust the words so that they fit you**

"I truly admire your bravery.  I wish more parents would see it."

"Keep your head up, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the amount of support you get/have."

"I am so proud of what a strong and brave young lady you have grown into."

"Giving those names means they have no hold on you anymore.. Letting the public know who did this is a protection for the public.. Those awful people do not deserve to remain anonymous.. You owe them no loyalty, they owe you everything.Personally I think you should sue them all for what they did to you..." 

 "I'm very proud of you!! You just made such a difference to so many, survivors, victims and future victims of abuse...it takes a strong person to STAND UP!! Hold your head high!! Not many can do what you did, what NEEDS to be done...If this helped only 1 person (I'm sure it has helped more just in knowing they are not alone in whatever abuse they have been through or are going through...and may give them the same Courage you have shown...)  May the Rest of your Life be filled with Peace and Happiness"

"Takes a lot of balls to face your past and share it with the public.  You are a strong girl!!"

"What happened is disgusting.  I am so happy to see that those horrible people did not prevent you from growing into a beautiful strong and courageous woman and loving mother.  Thank you for sharing your story and giving hope and encouragement to other victims of abuse."

"I am happy you feel strong enough to now tell your story.  Your past has not prevented you from becoming a strong woman.  I remember some of the abuse by your grandfather and even when I had to call him to stand up for you I remember how intimated he made me feel.  So happy to see your strength!"

"There is freedom in the truth. If your story helps just one other person then truth has won once again.  Hold that in your heart and know that God understands and surly has a place for you."

"Wow, very courageous of this girl to share the name of her childhood molester...hope she inspires others.

"Thank you for sharing your story.  You are an inspiration!!"

"You are a very brave person.  Best of luck to you."

"Very brave person, indeed.  You should never feel ashamed - Thank you for sharing your story and being a strong person."

"Thank you for your contribution to bring awareness!"

"I think it is a wonderful thing that you are doing by speaking out about what has been done to you and I feel it is a very good thing that you are not hiding the facts about who did it.  It is time that the abuser stop being protected.  It is time that people know what they are really like."  

"I'm so happy for you, not happy that you went through that, but you are a blessing to all that know you.  You are one strong woman.  Keep telling your story we all need it, more for the ones going through it. God Bless You.  You might not think you are, you sure area hero to us.  Also you teaching us all what ever bad things that happened to any of us if we want a better life you got to work at it.  We don't have to be victim or a pawn of hurt and scared for life.  Thank you for who you became.  You could have had closed the doors and hid and not walked in love, after all you faced you still found love." 

" I read her story and was very impressed with her strength and courage to not let that those horrible people control her life. As far as her telling their names, too bad for them! They did something horrible to an innocent child, they deserved to be shamed in public." 

"That's great that you're taking this and turning it into something positive. I had heard rumors of this but had NO idea who the family was and the post was brought to my attention."

Healing

I saw this post and thought it would be a great one to share with everyone here.  It spoke so much to me. 
I know I felt damaged for a while from the abuse I had gone through, and that I was so different from the rest of the world because of it.  I was always quite and alone.  Once I finally moved out of the abusive household and in with the other half of my family who encouraged me to go out and make friends and have a life I was still different but I began healing and I got the help that I needed and now I no longer allow my past abuse to control my life.  Instead I want it to push me forward, to better myself emotionally, mentally, and socially.  I want to help other people overcome their bad past, I might not have a perfect life but I'm determined to keep trying to better my life.  My past is always behind me, reminding me of what I had gone through during my childhood and I use it to make sure my children have it better. 

Healing is a process.  It takes time, and it takes support.  I'm lucky I had and still have such wonderful support, for now I don't live in constant fear or submission. 

Could have beens and Should have dones...

When life has you in a hard spot I always find myself looking back on all my life and wondering what could have been if I had made different choices.  I notice things that I should have done in order to have been better off (maybe) 
It's an easy thing to do...that's why they say hind sight is 20/20

Well this past year for my family and I has been one of those hard years, in which both my husband and I spend a lot of time looking back on all the life choices we've made and wondering what could have been if we went a different path and what different things we should have done in order to not be in the hard spot we were in.

At the end of summer 2012 I found myself pregnant...after having just lost one house because we weren't making enough money to pay rent.  We found a place to live so we weren't homeless but the pregnancy came at a bad time, we had just moved into our new place and were only barely making bills with both my husband and I working...I had morning sickness so had to quit... Really it's not the best to work in a kitchen and be running to the bathroom to throw up often.  We were very excited about having the baby but scared shitless pretty much too.  The winter proved to be a hard one... with only my husband's income, no raise and somehow less money than the years before we didn't have enough to cover all our bills and none for food.  My family helped us with food often buying us groceries and having us over for dinner.  We were very grateful.  We kept wondering what we were going to do.  We couldn't keep going on like this not with a baby coming and the expenses of diapers and everything. 

As you can imagine we looked back at everything we had gone through in our last 6 years together...

We went over every mistake we made that led us to being so poor...
My semester at college...then my photography schooling.  Thanks for that! I racked up a lot of debt...but it's hard to regret that.  I wanted to be a Spanish Teacher and then I learned a lot about photography and I still don't think I have enough schooling and would love to go back.
That leads me to wonder where life would have gone had I stayed in college the first time...
What if we had waited the 4 years to get married?  How stupid was it of us to have bought that brand new truck that we couldn't make the outrageous payments on right after our wedding??  Was it good or bad that we moved north as soon as work slowed down in the south?  And we know that moving back to NC while we thought we had everything planned out so well and things were looking up for us, was a mistake.

I could keep going...but why waste our time.

I believe there's good that came from all of our choices even if looking back we see how things might have gone better had we made other choices

Buying that truck that really put us in debt and trashed our credit even more than my schooling...that taught us a lesson...NEVER BUY WHAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD!!  Since then we've stuck to used cars for a good price that we've had to pay for in cash.

If we waited until I was 21 to get married, who knows what that would have or wouldn't have changed?  It doesn't really matter.  I'll have been married to my wonderful husband 6years this year, and we've had our share of ups and downs...but we've done it all together and I wouldn't want it any other way.

After all that felling sorry for ourselves, looking back on the could have beens (I could have been a teacher already) and should have dones, we realized that everything we went through we had done for a reason...each thing taught us a lesson, and instead of looking back and looking at where we were stuck we had to start looking ahead and thinking of a way to get to where we wanted to be.

Where we wanted to be was easy...we wanted a good life for our girls and to be able to make our bills and have more than enough food on the table and to enjoy life.  Sound easy enough.
How to get there is another story but we all do what we need to in order to reach our goals and keep working hard on getting there and most IMPORTANTLY:
 Never give up on your dreams!!!

 (Image is taken from Instagram follow Factsofhealth for more)

I know it's hard.  I've beaten myself up a lot over the years due to looking back on my past and seeing the mistakes I've made...I've gotten discouraged trying to figure out how to get to the places I want to be while looking at where I am. 

I've often wondered about way back in my past, what would have happened if I grew up with my mom?  What would have happened if I admitted and told someone what my grandfather was doing so much earlier? 
But none of that really matters right now...it's important that instead of looking back on your mistakes and dwelling too much in your past pain that we look for the good times and remember them and, look forward to tomorrow and make plans on how to have a better tomorrow while never forgetting to make the best of right now!

Yes, I said all that after telling you how much time I have wasted looking back but I know it's important to stop doing that. 

 

I'll leave you (and me) with this...

5months and no post!...I'm sorry it's been so long

Hey everyone,
I'm so sorry it's been 5 months since my last post...life has been crazy for me and I haven't had the time to get on and write or post anything on here.
So what's my excuse?...
I had no internet, been very busy with my kids, and then after my husband was laid off we became homeless....yeah that's not so inspiring, is it?  :(  But the good news is that we're on our way to getting back on our feet and as always life keeps going so we're fighting for all that we want trying to make the best out of all the bad.

Making the best out of something bad is something that I'm use to doing.  My childhood while it was hard and no child should have to go through not feeling safe at home and being betrayed by ones own family....I did get a lot out of it and have many good memories.  I did learn how to make the best out of a bad situation.  I have gotten to see much of the country and even a lot of the world that many don't, I grew up on a farm and I love that fact, I have many memories of playing in the snow with my brother and while each of these things have something bad to go along with them I can still look back on the good.  It's not always easy but when you're having a hard time, and you feel like you're at the bottom and just can't go on, look for the good in your life, past and present.  Make a list of what you want and all of your blessing.


I found the above pic on Pinterest and I loved it.  I thought it fit very well for my message today and my life right now.