Fall and I have a love/ hate relationship. I hate the month of September, for various reasons:
- My grandmother died in September.
- Every job that I’ve ever been fired from has been in September.
- I make a lot of stupid decisions in September.
But, I’ve made it though September, and on to October. October has one particular event that really sucks. It one that I don’t really talk about, and I have no reason to talk about it now, except to maybe try to deal with my hatred of this season, and get back to the reasons why I love it.
On October 12, it will be fifteen years since my stepfather raped me.
Some of you reading this already knew about this, but I’d say the majority of you don’t.
I was 14, and the event changed my life forever.
I won’t go into the details, except that even now, I can remember every detail of that night.
My mother doesn’t believe that it happened, and my stepfather denies it. I think that as I’ve gotten older, my mother has changed her mind about it, but probably will never tell me so.
I’ve forgiven my stepfather, but I still hate him for the irrevocable damage he did to my life. It’s why I have no confidence, a big reason for my weight, and why I still don’t fully trust any man.
Even now, I still question myself; if I made it all up. When you own mother doesn’t believe you, it’s easy to. My stepfather may deny it to the end of his days, but I know what happened, he knows what happened, and God knows what happened. God is a just God, and I take heart that my stepfather will have to answer to God for what he did to me. I pray for his soul.
But like a lot of things, I’ve got to let this go, and stop using it for an excuse for not fully living my life. It’s something that happened to me, but it’s not who I am.
Sometimes, when I’m not thinking about all the crap, I love the fall. I actually love the cooler weather, the leaves changing color, and of course, the football (BOOMER!SOONER!). Like a really good friend said, I love how the fall gives you a sense of renewal, that you can do anything( A paraphrased quote by my buddy Nate-thanks!). And I CAN do anything.
A fellow blogger named Grace*(thank you!) gave a speech at a recent blogging conference, and by the magic of twitter, I stumbled upon what she said. The following is an excerpt, but really speaks to me. It’s about forgiveness.
Here’s to a good fall..
Grace’s speech:
I’ve held my breath pounding on the keyboard sending my truth off in blog posts to everywhere and everyone out there. It’s scary as shit but I click on the “publish” link, “feeling the fear but doing it anyway.”
But I’m not scared in tapping out this entry, for today I want to be a warrior in the service of my sisters and brothers, – adult child abuse survivors.
I have a message for you, dear ones. It’s radical and some people who have not been through what we suffered as children may not appreciate it. Indeed, they may be angry at me in sharing this truth with you, something that I believe with all of my heart, mind and soul:
My message: You don’t have to forgive your perpetrator.
And: Forgiving your abuser is not necessary to achieve healing.
Forgiving those who criminally damaged and ravaged us is optional in moving on and living a fulfilling life.
If there is forgiveness to be offered, extend it to yourself.
Forgive yourself for being young, vulnerable, frightened, and unable to take action, unable to move from where you were standing, sitting or lying down as you were being molested, beaten and berated.
Forgive yourself for doing drugs, drinking too much, being promiscuous, giving yourself away.
Forgive yourself for flunking classes, not finishing college, not pushing yourself at work, not wanting to be ambitious, giving up.
Forgive yourself for having to be perfect in school, overworking and overachieving at the expense of your health and well being.
Forgive yourself for alienating your body, starving it, overfeeding it, not honoring it by exercising, being careless with your body for exercising it excessively.
Forgive yourself for the bad choices in partners, the fights, the break-ups, the divorces, the difficulty in maintaining relationships.
Forgive yourself for your fears as a parent, or your fear in becoming a parent.
Forgive yourself for yelling at your crying kids so much you want to smack their faces and shake them. Then, forgive yourself for leaving them in the other room, crying and hollering, while you call the parental stress hotline.
Forgive yourself for having depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, dissociative disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder. Forgive yourself for seeking help, taking medication, going to therapy, admitting yourself to the hospital.
Forgive yourself for feeling shame.
Forgive yourself for hating yourself.
Forgive yourself. You’re the one who deserves it.
*PS- I’m horrible at this linking thing, but here’s Grace’s blog if you want to check it out A true lady.
http://gracedavis.typepad.com/