Lauren's Kids

04/14/11

I was molested for 5 years in the 1960′s, a time where you were frowned on if you spoke of personal family matters. Even after it went public and my father was arrested, the family kept up appearances and began a decades long campaign of silence and suppression. When I finally spoke, I was shunned by family members, who told me to ‘get over it’. My mother’s allegiance was with my assailant, her husband. She missed him and confessed to secret meetings with him. To become a Survivor and let go of the Victim mentality, I had to let go of the toxic family relationships that were not allowing me to heal, and to seek the help that had been denied when I was a child. I have surrounded myself with loving positive people and continue to allow contentment and peace to grow.

07/22/11

When I was 8 my uncle molested me. I didn’t tell anyone until I was 16 years old because he had scared me into not saying anything. Even when I finally told someone about what had happened my uncle was not arrested for his actions.

I have become a strong woman because of it. I try my hardest to live life to the fullest, and I am happy about the woman that I have become.

07/28/11

As a child you’re unaware of the harm and cruel things that any human can do to a child.

When I was 5 years old I was sexually abused by my uncle and this happened until I was 7 years old.

Unfortunately, when my uncle came from Cuba my father opened our doors for him to have a place to stay until he was able to find a job and get on his feet. At that time I had my own bedroom and due to the fact that my uncle was moving in; my parents told me that I would have to share my room with my uncle sleeping in the same bed that I would sleep in. This was a 37 year old man sleeping next to a 5 year old boy. As the days became nights and his poise became stronger, the sexual abuse became more and more. Every single night my uncle would sexually abuse me without me understanding and being confused and scared of what was happening to me. I will never forget the tears that would drop down face in those years of my life. My uncle never verbally scared me nor told me that he would threaten my parents in any way. Due to the fact that I did not know what was going, not knowing how to even address this situation with my parents and how painful it was, I kept my mouth shut and that gave him the green light to make it an every night habit.

Until I was 7 years old my father told him that he needed to move out, for the safety of my sister because she was in her teens and my father didn’t want him to get any ideas. Little did my father know that my uncle was not interested in my sister. The sexual abuse was already happening in my room.

After my uncle moved out, I never told my parents about it. I didn’t tell a soul. I learned to deal with it and move on. I wasn’t going to allow for something like that to take over my life. I have to say that I am very proud of the man that I have become. It made me become stronger.

I respect children today and respect and care for those who have gone through this in life. Every parent should always have open communication with their child, and talk about these things. A child doesn’t know all the wrong things that happen in this world and it’s the parent’s job to teach them and guide them through all these situations.

Talk to your child, if you don’t they will stay quite; and that is the worst thing any child can do. I’m 26 years old and I am a survivor of sexual abuse. God bless every survivor out there that has gone through the same things like me; and God please guide every child’s soul so they don’t have to go through the horrible abuse and feeling that anyone can do to them. I rest my case.

07/28/11

This is actually my now 12 year old daughter’s survival story but this is also a story we want as many people as possible to read…if it can help one person than it is worth getting it out there.

We had gone to spend the day with family at a beach condo one day last summer. My aunts, uncles, and cousins were all there. We swam in the pool, went and played on the beach and had a great day, or at least it was a great day until my daughter came to me with a look of complete helplessness, violation, and desperation on her face. This is a look that will haunt me forever. I knew immediately something was wrong.

She informed that one of my cousins had been touching her as he was throwing her into the deep end. My first thought was to get her out of that place as quick as I could. We packed up and left as soon as we could without giving any clue as to what had happened. You see, I didn’t want him to get scared and run or try to talk to her or me for that matter. I knew I was going to call the police but I had to get her out of there. She was terrified and sickly looking. She didn’t even look like my little girl. As soon as we left, I called my husband and told him to meet me because something terrible had happened. We met at my parent’s house. My parents, my brother, my husband..we convened there and decided the best thing to do was to take her to the hospital, just to make sure he hadn’t hurt her in anyway. I also knew that the ball would get rolling quickly that way because the hospital would have to call the police and the Dept of Children and Family Services. As my husband and I left for the hospital, my parents called my aunt and uncle over (his parents) stating there was something that had happened and they needed to talk about it. Of course, they were devastated. We all were. They believed my parents and left to go talk to my cousin and his wife. He admitted it. My aunt and uncle talked him in to turning himself in and he did just that the very next morning.

It has now been almost 14 months since that day. He is in prison, serving TWO life sentences. My daughter wasn’t the only one if the family he had molested. As it turned out he was also molesting his niece and had been for 2+ years…she hadn’t told until my daughter came forward.

It’s ok to tell…there is always someone out there willing to believe and help!