Member-only story
Dream Today/Act Tomorrow: How Not To Be Someone’s Punching Bag
I’ve worked since I was 14. I’m just now reaching my seventh decade; I think it’s time I learned how “to be” … not just “to do.” I thought I had a tragic childhood until I found out what a tragic childhood really was. You can’t make these things up!
That doesn’t eliminate or invalidate my pain!
Yes, I was abused by a family member. Yes, I was a victim of domestic violence. Yes, it marked my life until I decided it wouldn’t anymore. And yes, it was hard. Tragic — I’m not so certain.
As my father liked to say, “you have a roof over your head, food on the table. What are you complaining about?”
I never saw a soft or gentle moment between my mother and father growing up. I never saw my father pat my mother on her backside. I did see and experience them screaming and yelling at each other. When I say screaming, I mean screaming! I remember on a long drive when I was about 12, with a cooler of beer between them and cigarettes blazing, my mother threatening to jump out of the car. My sister, brothers, and I huddled together in an attempt to protect each other from the terror going on in front of our eyes. I remember being beaten with a belt for the crime of getting Georgia’s red clay on my clothes. As if that wasn’t humiliating enough, my dad had to pull my pants down…
