Monday, February 17, 2014

This is our masterpiece.

Note: I encourage letter writers to not post anonymously, but I understand that sometimes that is not possible. After talking with this individual, it was decided that this was one of those times. Therefore, the letter is signed "Me" instead of with a name.

Dear You,

I was seventeen when my dad yelled at me for eating a sandwich. Coming down the stairs he said, “Do you know how many carbs are in bread? You don’t need more of those. I fought back and he called me a brat, an ungrateful little bitch. We fought for almost an hour. We were about to go to a football game, and I told him I didn’t want to go with him anymore. His response was, “It’s not a big deal- stop being such a drama queen.”

That’s exactly what abuse does. It slaps your soul, branding it with pain and then pours salt over it by saying you have no right to be hurt. You deserve everything that has happened to you. But friend, sometimes you don’t deserve it. Sometimes things happen to you that are not your fault. Abuse shames us into silence by saying we were supposed to be stronger, supposed to be smarter, supposed to be braver or better. Abuse says we got what we deserved.

Friend, you will meet people in your life who will tell you that you deserve the abuse they give you. They will tell you that you are unworthy, undeserving, and the way they treat you is your fault. That is not true.

You do not deserve cruelty.
You deserve tenderness and grace and freedom.
Love is supposed to set you free- if you are not free, it is not love.

My dad has never hit me, but verbal abuse finds its way into your soul and buries itself there in ways that most people underestimate. Friend, don’t stay silent. Start talking about it, and no matter what people tell you, don’t stop until someone hears you. You deserve to be heard.

And I will be here, banging my pots and pans with you, making a cacophony that will not be easily ignored.

This is our orchestra.
This is our masterpiece.


Learning and living with you,
Me

No comments:

Post a Comment