Child Abuse Story From Shannon3

by Shannon
(Oregon, USA)

All in One: 
I am the only child. My parents divorced when I was three. My mother obtained custody of me. I do not exactly remember the timeline, but she would often leave me alone at night, and I would cry and cry and be scared when she would leave to either get drugs or meet up with boyfriends. My mother was smoking marijuana by herself and with her boyfriends, and I would play with the red bong (water pipe) in her bathroom when she wasn't around.

As I got older, about age 11, I was a pawn told to ask my dad for child support by my mother. I was upset and felt so bad.

At age 12, everything went wrong. I was raped by my best friend's brother. This happened approximately 2-3 times. I was scared that I might be pregnant, so when I was grocery shopping with my mother, I was caught stealing a pregnancy test. Not wanting to get my best friend's family involved, I lied and told my mom that it was a guy from the local skating rink.

My mom and I started having physical fights, so I went to live with my dad. I then found cocaine in his things. I confronted him, and he denied it was his or that it was cocaine, I don't remember. But I had it sold, and it was cocaine.

My dad married my awful stepmother when I was age 15. We competed for my dad's attention because he was never there, working various shifts. The only thing that was good at the time I was 15 was when we smoked marijuana together with my friends. My dad knew and didn't care.

I got pregnant twice, had two abortions. I then got pregnant again at 16, and had my first child at 17. The man I was with at 15 was 19. I moved out at 18 and lived in a very scary apartment with this man. He would beat me and got arrested 3 times, but I always took him back. It took a long time for me to finally get out of that relationship.

In conclusion, I didn't want to be with another male, so I had a 5-year relationship with a female. I knew I wasn't gay, so I left and married a man who was terribly emotionally abusive. He grew up in a religious cult and tried to brainwash my son and I as well. It worked with me, and I am still recovering. But I went to college and got my Bachelors degree. To this day, aside from my children, it is my best accomplishment that no one can take away from me.

As of now, I have three children and am alone. I need this time, as I have been codependent for the last 12 years. I have a great job as a Social Worker, and given what I have gone through, am able to have empathy for survivors of all types of abuse.

Darlene's comments to this "Child Abuse Story From Shannon3 can be found at Comments below this submission. Depending on system activity, there are sometimes delays in comments going live on my site; but rest assured, they do eventually appear. So if you don't yet see them, I hope you will return later to read what I, and possibly others, have written. I thank you for your patience and understanding.

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Sincerely,

Darlene Barriere
Violence & Abuse Prevention Educator
Author: On My Own Terms, A Memoir

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