It was an emotional morning last week as I found myself unexpectedly sobbing as Tamron Hall broke down on screen while discussing Shining a Light on domestic violence. Her cause is beyond worthy and close to her heart since her sister fell victim and died as a result of the abuse. Although it is a subject matter that tends to make most people uncomfortable, I feel I must do my part to help Shine the Light for I know all too well how raw the emotions are for those affected by such violence. My loving and kind mother suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died in a small coal mining town In West Virginia when I was six years old. The circumstances were bizarre and tragic, but not as horrific as the life she endured with my father. Although her fatal wounds were inflicted by an altogether different psychopath, he may as well have pulled the trigger...for God surely showed mercy by allowing her to die quickly instead of suffering the slow death she was experiencing from the continued, unspeakable abuse at his hands. I remember with much more clarity than I should, hiding in places I hoped I wouldnt be found, enraged but too petrified to do anything to help her as my father did things too horrible to reveal. He was always too drunk to notice, but my mother would see me hunkered down in some corner of our little three room shotgun house with tears streaming down my face. I can still see her place a finger to her swollen, bruised and bleeding lips to make sure that only she was the subject of his despicabe deeds. I was always disgusted with myself that I didnt have the courage to slay the monster who inflicted such intolerable brutality on the mother I adored. My heart certainly was filled with a sufficient amount of hatred for the task...but my body was crippled with fear. I cant even begin to imagine the horrible thoughts and feeling of despair that my mother experienced. It seems very odd to me now that every next day, we carried on as if nothing had happened...as if those bruises werent even there. And so, those emotions remain raw and the tears are always right there, ready to flow at the mere mention of domestic abuse. Im afraid that silencing it is not something that makes it just go away. Music is Tuesday Morning by The Cowboy Junkies. youtu.be/aVKVsoK7dOM
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 00:14:50 +0000
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