House of Secrets

Dedication: To victims of sexual/physical abuse, and dysfunction- You are not alone!

I grew up in a house full of secrets. On the exterior of our home we looked like a picture-perfect family, but on the interior we all found ways to survive.Let me take you from the beginning. I learned from the moment I was entering the world I would need to fight to survive. My 3lb 9 oz identical twin beat me out in our first race, coming in first place by one whole minute!! I weighed 2 lbs 11 oz. I fought long and hard to survive to become a healthy individual. But it would only be the first fight to survive. At seven years old, I was sexually abused by my grandfather. I would later go on to watch my father rape my twin sister, my younger sister and physically abuse my older brother. My mom, well, she became so paralyzed by fear that she closed the door to her children’s pain because she never recovered from her own abuse she dealt with when she was younger. We were a church going family hearing message after message of Hope. Well eventually, I did find hope. I clung to it like it was a blanket covering me. My faith carried me though and I allowed my heart and mind to go under a complete renovation.I share my story because I believe one persons story is someone else’s hope. Hope changes, empowers and gives life. I am so grateful I survived and I now live purposefully to continue to spread hope. No matter what upbringing, dysfunction or lifestyle you came from, you can change the cycle and turn all the ugly moments of survival into something good.