Plot Twist

Every day I go to work and I hear tragic stories of violence,  abuse and neglect. Every day I listen as people cry, parents and children, lost in pain and fear. Domestic violence,  substance use, childhood sexual molestation. I recognize these stories deep within because I've lived them. I've read this book over and over. But it is not my story I'm hearing. My story is different.  

Plot twist...I am not a victim. 

Plot twist... After 5 years of molestation,  I made him stop when I was 15 years old. 

Plot twist... I faced my attacker in court when I was 17.  And he was found guilty. 

Plot twist... I left home at 19 instead of living with the man who molested me. 

Plot twist... I didn't abort my baby when I was 21. 

Plot twist... at 24 I took three babies and left my husband when he started to be physically abusive. 

Plot twist... I immigrated to a foreign country when I was 27 to create distance between me and an abusive family. (Yes! America was very foreign.)

Plot twist... after losing everything in a messy divorce, I bought my own home when I was 40 and became a single parent of 7 children. 

Plot twist... at 45 I went to college and then graduated with a 4.0 GPA. 

Plot twist... my son died when I was 46 and I became even stronger,  braver and more compassionate. 

Plot twist... I got a job working with families who are dealing with abuse and neglect when I was 46. This is when I began hearing stories that broke my heart wide open. 

Plot twist... today I have a daily gratitude practice because every day I am reminded of where I came from and how hard I worked to change from victim,  to surviver,  to thriver. 

I wrote about being a good girl in a box and about breaking out of the box.  I often still feel confined by the box, the expectations placed on me by family and society.  I am constantly reminded of how I am supposed to behave, what is right and what is wrong. By whose standards am I supposed to live? Who has the right to impose their will on me?  

Plot twist... I am my own woman. I am powerful and brave. I have overcome poverty, abuse, loss, grief. I have navigated every challenge with grace and courage. I have consistently chosen love over fear. 

I hear those stories. I have read the book. But I'm writing a different story and my story is full of plot twists. In the end, this heroine lives happily ever after.