<\/p>\n
\nComment Martha on 11 Nov 2010 at 5:59 pm<\/span><\/p>\n
I read your awe-inspiring story! I cried both tears of sadness and joy! Please share some of your personal favorite times during the sharing of your story. What can you share that made you want to share? What caused you to continue on? What made you feel your story was important? And last, I promise. From your heart what would you like everyone in the world to know about you? Your private message?<\/span><\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n
Martha<\/span><\/p>\n
Salt Lake City, Utah<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Dear Martha,<\/span><\/p>\n
Thank you for sharing your heart-felt thoughts! Sharing didn’t come easy at first but my vision to help change the world by bringing awareness and knowledge to a once incomprehensible illness gives me purpose. I\u2019m just one woman with a voice who needs to share in hope to help eliminate child sexual abuse. <\/span><\/p>\n
I am a survivor, yes, yet I continue to ache with past pain and dark thoughts when a reminder is triggered, such as when I read a story, see someone hurting, or sense a child is in danger or is being neglected. As a child I had nowhere to turn. I tried a few times to confide my pain but was betrayed. <\/span><\/p>\n
What I would like people to know is that I\u2019m just one woman who happened to have been abused. I may not be perfect but I get up everyday and try to be my best self. I have a voice that won’t stop sharing the truth until I take my last breath. I was one of many abused children in a world that has a hard time trying to comprehend, recognize, and acknowledge that sexual abuse is real and happens everyday. <\/span><\/p>\n
I ask that if you suspect a child is being abused, pay attention to the signs and help them. When I was a child, most people were afraid to listen. Most turned their head. \u00a0No one wanted to get involved. Those I tried to share with thought I’d made it all up or just needed attention. Dissociation prevented me from being taken seriously. Once a relative said that I deserved to be abused because I was bad. But how could that be? I was an obedient, well-behaved, and compliant child. I often asked myself why no one helped me. I even questioned God. No one but God really knew the extent of my suffering.\u00a0I was just a child wanting to feel loved. Instead I was met with horrific sadness and pain.<\/span><\/p>\n
I am doing well these days. I am alive with a strong desire to make a difference. I am grateful to have found Dr. Baer and received the appropriate care. I continue to wake up each day trying to be my best self.<\/span><\/p>\n
Thank you for your thought provoking questions! I am sure there is much more to say…<\/span><\/p>\n
Wishing you all my best!<\/span><\/p>\n
Karen<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Comment Martha on 11 Nov 2010 at 5:59 pm I read your awe-inspiring story! I cried both tears of sadness and joy! Please share some of your personal favorite times during the sharing of your story. What can you share that made you want to share? What caused you to continue on? What made you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-karens-answers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2549"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2550,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549\/revisions\/2550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}