Horrors

Throughout my life I have been witness to horrors that a lot of people can’t even imagine. I am not talking about things like war or famine; I am talking about child abuse.I was raised in and around child abuse for so long that the abuse started to feel normal to me.I thought all families lived like this. I didn’t know that fathers weren’t supposed to rape their daughters and I didn’t know that mothers weren’t supposed to beat their kids.

The things I learned growing up weren’t things that a lot of kids learned. I learned how to keep secrets. I learned how to hide bruises. I had learned how to please my father, and others, in ways girls my age should know nothing about. I learned how to pretend like my life was normal. I learned how to defend my parents against people who tried to tell me that what I was going through was wrong.