In this photo I smiled in the arms of my stepfather… For years, my mother believed that she loved me like her own daughter, but I did not know that, behind closed doors, those same hands subjected me to such cruel abuse that their consequences would accompany me throughout my life

But my story didn’t end there.

It took me years to realize that everything Mark said about me was not true.

I wasn’t a bad girl.

I didn’t make him angry.

A child is never responsible for the cruel behavior of an adult.

My mother also had a long way to go.

He often said:

How could I not see it?

I don’t blame her anymore.

But today, now that I’m a mother too, there’s something I do differently.

If my son ever says to me,

“I don’t want to be alone with that person.”

My first question will not be:

“Why? What did he do to you?”

First I’ll say:

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be alone with that person. Now tell me all you can.

Sometimes children can’t explain their fear.

Sometimes they don’t have the words to be needed.

Sometimes they are terrified.

Sometimes they think no one will believe them.