squirt13000 asked this question on 5/10/2000:
I am a ninth grade student at Timbercrest Junior High in Washington. I am doing an extensive report on child abuse. I would really like to hear your story, how you coped with being abused, and how it changed your life. My e-mail is alc2003@hotmail.com. Thank you so very much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Josephine56 gave this response on 5/11/2000:
During the years of chid abuse I did not know any other life style. My mother left us when I was 8 yrs old in the 1960's. Back then there was not support for a battered wife, mother or children. My dad was an alcoholic and he would come home in rages. He would beat us up. We were cursed, we were not allowed to go to church, encouraged to steal and where psychologicaly and emotionaly abused as well. He did not encourage education. There were times he would throw me out of the house from age 11 to 14. I slept on washateria floors and slept in the downtown Greyhound bus station. I had to steal food to eat. The police would find me but never believed my story, my dad would call them and said I was a run away. I did not have much self worth, but I did play the violin and had a radio. I do think that prayer and my violin and listening to the radio helped a lot. I became a juvenile deliquent at the age of 11. We used to steal food. I remember the milk man used to leave milk at the door steps and I used to steal pints from houses to survive. When I was 13 my mother appeared in my life and at 14 I knew I had a right as a child to decide who to live with and my dad beat me for the last time. I became a very strong person and have been married 4 times. I was always picking men like my father till I was 38 and the light turned on that I did not have to endure abuse as an adult. I have two children out of wedlock. Nothing to be proud of but the are grown and well. My current husband is #4 and we have been happily married for 6 years now. I am 44 and very happy. I do suffer from post traumatic stress syndrom which I have been told is a result of the abuse I endured. I am also a nurse. I went to nursing school in my senior year in high school so I could be on my own and out of the house post graduation. Good luck on your report and let me know if you would like any further information. Josephine :-)