I delt with these people in my own family while I was growing up. The general consensus in my family was, “They only do this because it was done to them.... It’s not their fault, they have a problem so we mustn’t be ugly to them.... We just have to pray for them.” And there was no one to stand up and protect those who needed protecting. Because of that, when I was old enough to have my own house, only five members of my ‘family’ were allowed to know where I lived or how to contact me.

What really makes me angry is the fear and anxiety I’ve experienced as a parent. I did the best I could to be rational, to be a good mom, but I could never relax, and I know that affected them.