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Survivor story

I’m so sorry for the past, please let me make your future safe

Original story

Message to a Survivor

Please know that if you’re confused, I’m just as confused as you. If you’re scared, I’m just as scared as you. I’ll hold your hand through this journey, even if I’ve been on both sides, the victim and the perpetrator, I want to heal, I want you to heal, I may have fucked up in the past as a naive child, but I want to grow into a healed young adult who can help people like you, yes you, onto a new path of life.

Message of Healing

I want to be able to accept that this happened, I want some sort of closure. I want to look at my sister and know I’ve done everything I can to protect her, even if I made some horrible mistake in the past. I want to be a good person, and know that I’ve done what I can to keep myself and others safe from situations just like mine.

I, I don’t quite know how to start this. I’m confused, scared, and don’t have anyone to confide in when it comes to, this type of stuff. I’ll start at the beginning I guess. A bit of background, my parents were never married, there was a custody battle going on until I was about 6 (lasted from when I was born until I was 6), and my step mom was in the picture, and my younger sister was born when I was 2. As a kid I was, fascinated for lack of better words, with private body parts and sexual acts. I have no recollection of how I learned of these things, and that’s what haunts me. I can remember being a young child, maybe 5, being infatuated with pregnancy, birth, sex, among other personal things of the sorts. It makes me nauseous just to think about it now. My dad used to watch the news & Two and a Half Men around me as a child, but that’s the only exposure I can recall when it came to sexual acts. I have a few memories of my dad spreading some sort of cream onto my vagina as a young child, and to this day I cannot tell whether or not it was not meant as a sexual act, and that perhaps I had a rash or something, or if it was meant as a sexual act. Either way that’s one of the most disgusting memories I have. As I grew up, maybe about 3-7 range, my curiosity and infatuation expanded, I would touch myself and actively seek out books that contained pregnancy, for example, some health books at my after school program. I also struggled with potty issues, such as constipation and other things. Private parts have been well, very private, for as long as I can remember. And this is where I have the most trouble. As a child, perhaps 5 years old with my 3 year old sister, or maybe I was 6 and she was 4, either way we were both young. We would play “house” and whatnot with our stuffed animals, and would often have our “husbands” and “kids” but we often acted out the pregnancies, which I suppose is to be expected of two young impressionable girls. Everything stayed with just our stuffed animals, but I have one horrid memory between her and I. All I remember is sitting under some covers in my bed- the fucking bed I’m laying on as I type this out- I had my underwear off, and she was under the covers as the “baby”. God I feel like I’m gonna puke typing this. She mentioned that it was hot, and I think I told her to stay down there. I can’t remember, I’ve tried to hard to forget this memory. I feel so guilty. I’m scared she remembers. I’m scared she hates me. I love my sister, she’s my absolute world and I would give my life to make sure she’s safe. I was a child. A child who I don’t know if I was raped or molested as. A child who was dealing with the ever changing custody battle. A child who slept in her mom and dads beds because she was scared to be alone. A girl who slept in her dads bed until she was 11, and slept in her moms bed until she was 14. A girl whose scared of her past and worried of her future. I don’t know what to do, I feel so bad knowing that I may have sexually manipulated my younger sister and another childhood friend. I didn’t know that was wrong as a kid, I know it’s wrong now and I hate myself. I hate myself for not knowing if I was sexually abused as a kid, and I hate my child self for doing those things. I can’t look at pictures of myself as a child, only seeing her as a monster who was possibly molested/raped and who took her own confused and scared feelings out on two people around her. I don’t know what to do anymore, I just live with this horrid knowledge and accept the fact that it happened, and that it sits, simmering in my chest for years and years.

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Grounding activity

Find a comfortable place to sit. Gently close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths - in through your nose (count to 3), out through your mouth (count of 3). Now open your eyes and look around you. Name the following out loud:

5 – things you can see (you can look within the room and out of the window)

4 – things you can feel (what is in front of you that you can touch?)

3 – things you can hear

2 – things you can smell

1 – thing you like about yourself.

Take a deep breath to end.

From where you are sitting, look around for things that have a texture or are nice or interesting to look at.

Hold an object in your hand and bring your full focus to it. Look at where shadows fall on parts of it or maybe where there are shapes that form within the object. Feel how heavy or light it is in your hand and what the surface texture feels like under your fingers (This can also be done with a pet if you have one).

Take a deep breath to end.

Ask yourself the following questions and answer them out loud:

1. Where am I?

2. What day of the week is today?

3. What is today’s date?

4. What is the current month?

5. What is the current year?

6. How old am I?

7. What season is it?

Take a deep breath to end.

Put your right hand palm down on your left shoulder. Put your left hand palm down on your right shoulder. Choose a sentence that will strengthen you. For example: “I am powerful.” Say the sentence out loud first and pat your right hand on your left shoulder, then your left hand on your right shoulder.

Alternate the patting. Do ten pats altogether, five on each side, each time repeating your sentences aloud.

Take a deep breath to end.

Cross your arms in front of you and draw them towards your chest. With your right hand, hold your left upper arm. With your left hand, hold your right upper arm. Squeeze gently, and pull your arms inwards. Hold the squeeze for a little while, finding the right amount of squeeze for you in this moment. Hold the tension and release. Then squeeze for a little while again and release. Stay like that for a moment.

Take a deep breath to end.