Child Abuse Story From Name Undisclosed24

by Name Undisclosed
(Location Undisclosed)

Flashbacks as an adult from witnessing abuse as a girl: 
When I was a little girl, from about the age of 5-12 I had a father who was very unstable. My parents were very young when they got married and had me when they were 18. My father, shortly thereafter, developed a bad drug addiction. We moved from various locations in Canada, and everywhere we went his addiction grew worse.

When I was about 7 years old I witnessed on two occasions, my father being very violent with my mother after he had gone missing for a couple days on a drunken/drug binge. My father came into the house when my mother, my sister and myself were watching a movie. He went off on a rampage about how my mother had been cheating, (he was the one cheating—various conversations between my mother and relatives revealed this to me) and grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the floor. I ran to my room and hid until the yelling stopped. I went downstairs and found the house empty. I ran to the neighbours to find my mother and sister there. We went to a battered woman's shelter the next day and stayed there for about a week. We returned home and my father was changed man, or so we thought.

Another time we went camping. It was supposed to be a fun weekend, but my father got drunk and camped into the tent really late at night and asked my mom about an earlier promise to go skinny dipping. When she declined he grabbed and started hitting her, slapping her. It's kinda fuzzy but I remember the next day he was so nice to us (the honeymoon stage, no doubt).

For the next couple years we went from battered women's shelters on and off.

My mother was such a great woman. When my dad would leave for days on end she would take us across the street on a patch of frozen ice on the pavement and let us skate. (She never had her licence so that was the shortest distance.) Dad had promised so many times before that he would take us. He never did.

My father used to get really angry with us over things we did as children. One time I was acting out and he told me to go to my room. I didn't listen, and he chased me up the stairs. When I froze on the stairs he grabbed my hair and pulled me to my bedroom.

So many things happened, but my parents are fantastic people and I love them.

Fast track forward. Today I am 24 years old and my sister is 21. I am in a very healthy relationship and plan to get married in the next year. My sister on the other hand has a 3-year-old and is in an abusive relationship.

My father has completely cleaned up his act and my mother is the happiest woman alive. My dad quit drugs and alcohol when we moved 12 years ago to our current location. There has been no abuse, and we are very lucky. He is such a role model for me, along with my mother. They are just wonderful people who I look up to.

A couple days I was camping with my parents and one of their friends named Sam* came out with his kids. The young girl was acting out and Sam* completely lost it. He stood up, smacked her in the head and grabbed her, pulling her into his camper, where he proceeded to scream and yell at her for what seemed like an eternity. This is very out of character for him, according to my parents.

When it began happening, I froze. I immediately reverted to the 8-year-old who was watching my mom being lifted off the ground. I hid inside the camper as I could hear this man yelling at his daughter. I broke down. I couldn't contain myself. I hid in the corner of the bed and wept. (I am 24) I have never done this other than when I was child. I couldn't stop shaking and I felt sick. My mom came in and saw me and I told her about when I was a child and she cried and hugged me and told me she was sorry. I heard my father go to his friend Sam* and restrain him. That's when the screams stopped and I came out. The kids were crying so I just hugged them and told them it was going to be okay.

My mother later told me that my dad was talking to Sam* about that day while camping. Sam* was crying because he lost it. Sam* felt embarrassed.

My dad told my mom that Sam* would regret his actions that day for the rest of his life. My mother asked my father what would make his say that, and father replied, "Because I do..."

Thanks for any insight into my life. Right now I am completely stressed over my sister who is in an abusive relationship with a 3-year-old and is in denial.

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