Page 10 - San Diego Woman interactive pdf

Women of Distinction

I couldn’t maintain any long-
term friendships.
At about age 12, I started
spending a lot of time with my
aunt Judi-my mother’s older
sister. She took me under her
wing and showed me what a
normal, loving family was like.
With my aunt’s help, I learned
about life, love and family. She
taught me everything I needed
to know.
Without knowing it,
Survivor to and because of her- I am the talking about my past, I started
Once I felt comfortable
person I am today. I owe her
everything.
THRIVER! her about my abusive past. She telling my co-workers-neigh-
At age 28, I finally told
bors-and friends.
had no idea. We were both
And you know what? I
afraid and intimidated by my started to hear about their sto-
By Kathy Picard abuser, so we kept quiet about ries of abuse, and it didn’t take
Photos courtesy of Kathy Picard it. But it felt so much better me long to realize this dirty
to share that part of my life little secret was widespread.
with her. She offered me all the When her sweet aunt
even-year-old little girls said, shush don’t talk about support I needed. passed away at age 54, Kathy
love their daddies. Kathy that ever again”. And when I met my future took matters into her own
Swas no exception, so So of course I didn’t. husband Gary, I had more hands. She went public with
when her daddy started paying Back then kids did as they support than I even thought what happened to her, and
“special” attention to her, she were told. possible. volunteered to tell her story,
felt “special” in turn. Her dad- Several years later, I dis- After I met Gary, we hoping it would help other
dy loved her. What could be covered sports and school ac- talked about counseling and it people understand more about
better than that? tivities that kept me busy and took me years of looking but I sexual abuse. As time went on,
She was born to a teenage out of that house of horrors finally found a great counsel- it helped her as well. She was
mother and through a series for as long as possible. I met a or. It wasn’t easy re-living my able to help other survivors
of bad choices on her part; she lot of classmates due to all my past, but I knew I had to do it come to terms with what hap-
landed in the lap of the man extra-curricular activities, but if I wanted to start healing. pened to them.
that was supposed to nourish
and protect her but instead he
would brainwash, threaten,
and sexually abuse her from
the age of 7 to 17. She hasn’t
been whole since she was six
years old. Stating, “I don’t even
remember what whole feels
like. And more than 50 years
later, I’m still not whole. And
never will be.”
“As a young child, I did
not know what was being done
to me was wrong. I was taught
this is how love is expressed
in a family, but it was a secret
and as my abuser’s special girl
I couldn’t tell anybody.
But the secret bothered
me and when I got a little
older I told my Grammy, she

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