05/09/2026
My abusers bribed me with candy bars, and bicycles.
I was the baby out of 5 children, and we were a military family living in a suburb, that was primarily military. The sexual abuse started when I was 3 years old, and ended when I was 10. I had 2 different abusers. I was bribed with candy and gifts, to keep quiet. I was later r@ped by 3 neighborhood boys, when I was 7. I never told anyone that. My two family abusers moved away when I was 10. I adored my abusers, and special attention was always how I framed it as a child. I didn't put all of the pieces together until I was older. I was also m0lested by my friend's father, during a sleepover, when I was 13. For much of my life, I carried a story I did not know how to tell. Some of what happened to me began before I had words for it. The silence lasted longer than it should have. It showed up in fear, shame, poetry, body memory, missing pieces, and the long work of trying to understand why I felt the way I did. This happened to me. Childhood sexual abuse happened to me. I do not share that for shock value. I share it because silence already took enough.
My expanded memoir, “Defining Light in Dark Places, that’s available on Amazon, tells the truth with care. Not every detail. Not every name. Not every room. But enough to say: I survived, I am still here, and the shame was never mine to keep. To anyone still carrying something alone: tell somebody safe. Not everybody. Not before you are ready. But somebody. You deserve to be believed. You deserve help. You deserve light. It is strange and holy and frightening, to realize that my book now carries this story into other people’s lives. What once lived mostly inside me, now has pages, a spine, a cover, and a way to reach someone I may never meet. Maybe that is why I wrote it. Maybe someone else is still carrying something alone. Maybe someone else needs to know that telling the truth does not have to mean telling everything. Maybe it begins with one safe person. One sentence. One small light. You do not have to tell everyone. You do not have to tell before you are ready. But when you can, tell somebody safe. Not everybody. Somebody. You deserve to be believed. You deserve help. You deserve light.
You can help a child protect themselves from abusers, by gifting them a FREE Tell Somebody book! 📚 gofundme.com/GiveAFreeBook
Child abusers, please stop and seek therapy and God.
Parents, talk with and believe your children. ❤️
Survivors, seek therapy. 💪🏽
(To share your story of abuse, message me)
www.TellSomebodyToday.com
