You Are Not Alone, Elizabeth's Story (Blog-a-thon Post 19)

Dear Survivor,

Elizabeth wants you to know you are not alone. Here's what she has to say:

As a child, I was verbally, physically, emotionally, mentally and sexually abused. I don't remember a time when I wasn't afraid. Our home was like a field of landmines, and no matter how carefully you stepped, there was always one going off. Yelling, fighting, hitting, cursing, went on 24 hrs a day. I thought it was normal.

When an uncle [molested me] at age 11, I told my mother immediately. She brushed it off, saying he had been drinking and didn't mean anything by it. Later, she would tell me I was lying about it. At 12 years old, my mother ran off with him (he was her sister's husband), married him, and stayed with him until the day she died. I have been estranged from the rest of my family because they are all either pedophiles or enablers. And to them, I am just an attention seeking liar.

In the warmth and love and truth of the Facebook group, I have found my real family. I am valued here, I am believed here, and I hear my story over and over in their stories, and know I am not alone. From those further in their healing, I learn. To those who are in earlier stages of their process, I teach. We are the family we deserved, not the cesspools in which we somehow survived. Here we thrive on love, hope, honesty, and compassion. All the things we didn't get as children.

Stay tuned for more stories of hope and survival made possible with the help of online support...

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