One Day ~ Forgiveness

One day in the future, and I hope it is not too long from now, you will look back on your life and see in reality what your life, your actions, and your thoughts truly are.  Right now, you are absorbed in your pain and immaturity.  It is difficult for you to look anywhere but right in front of you.

But one day......................

One day in the future, you will reflect on your life and on the people that love you.  With maturity and wisdom, you will see beyond the physical realm and instead see into the spirit of others.  Right now, you can only see black or white, good or bad.  You haven't developed the ability to see grey and to understand that love transcends all things.

But one day........................

One day in the future, you will reach out to connect with people who have loved you and prayed for you.  You will seek out their confidence and companionship.  These people who love you so much will have great value to you, and you will want to be a part of their lives.  Right now, you hide from these loved ones, shoving them farther and farther away.  You don't want others to see your pain and embarrassment

But one day.....................

One day in the future, you will see your true worth and value through the eyes of a soul forgiven.  You will understand that your worth comes from your existence and that God forgave you all your sins before those sins were committed.  You will further understand that in the same way, those who love you forgave you for all your transgressions even before those transgressions were made.  "Even when I'm mad at you, I love you."  Right now, you believe forgiveness happens only to others, and you feel that you do not deserve such forgiveness.  It is easier for you to continue to rage against the love and protection offered to you.

But one day...........................

One day, your grandparents and I will no longer exist; we will be mere whispers of ourselves existing in the cherished memories that others carry.  We will be found only in quieted contemplation, old photos and in saved writings.  These quieted contemplations, old photos and saved writings are being created right now with those individuals who are a part of our daily lives.  As you remain disconnected from us, you remain disconnected from those mere whispers that are just beginning to form.  One day in the future, when you reach backward to reflect on the love and grace poured out to you, your grandparents and I will not be available to you.  We will be disconnected from your mature reflections just as you are disconnected from our mere whisper creations.

My deepest sadness comes from the fear that when you are ready, others will have disappeared, either through death or disappointed, and will be unavailable to you.  I pour out words I hope will comfort and soothe you when you finally reach backward to reconnect to the love and companionship offered to you now.  I hope that you see how much I love and miss you.  Not a day goes by that I don't beg God to bless you with a future often offering all my future as a humble sacrifice for yours.

7/29/14 A Sense of Loss

https://youtu.be/8wiVjm9rczo?si=jVvgyo3pWZNuc-Rp Talking to Kaitlyn, I can feel how much she misses something she thought she had, an ideal of something.

She has so much bitterness and anger right now towards the person who hurt her.  This is understandable. 

Beyond that is the sense of loss:  she feels she has lost everything.

Childhood
Family
Innocence
Talents
Friends
Future

Just like other victims, she fixates on one thing at a time, attaches emotions to things and feels re-victimized when that "thing" is gone.

Recovery must include a strong spiritual component.  Because of the transcendence of worldly things, a spiritual component is the only way to provide stability.  It is the only thing that cannot be lost.  Moving beyond the immediate sense of urgency, the primal fear of injury and pain, establishing a strong spiritual connection can be so difficult.  What I have learned in this ordeal with Kaitlyn is that the spiritual approach is the only one that can provide solid support.

Also, recovery cannot be a piece by piece process.  It has to include all aspects of recovery - emotional, physical, mental, spiritual and legal (possibly).  Each day brings new struggles, new perceived dangers.  For me to be an effective supporter, I must have each of these components stabilized in my own life.  I must have support of my own in order to deal with the consistent onslaught of Kaitlyn's emotions.

Today, I have so very few answers and lots of questions.  What I can offer is a prayer for recovery.  Don't give up.  Wherever you are, don't give up.  Take the one baby step you need to take today.

Timetables are impossible.  I can only meet each new challenge as I encounter it.  For a person who relies heavily on timetables, this proves the most difficult for me.  My daughter and the preservation of her identify are more important than timetables and personal expectations.

Just a note on the video at the top of the blog.  I had no idea Lindsey Lohan recorded an album.  I was doing a cursory search of "innocence, loss, family, incest" and stumbled across it.  I truly think it says so much of what Kaitlyn says in regard to her perpetrator.  I'd like to say a few choice words of my own.  Conduct a search of your own.................see what you find.  I have also linked a couple of articles about the psychology of lost innocence that I found helpful.

My dear, sweet Kaitlyn....................fight.  Today, find that little girl inside you and let her have some breathing room.  You have not killed her off.  You have just locked her away so deeply inside yourself to protect her.  Just today, fight for her.............I know you can do it.

7/30/14 Stuck in the Middle

Kaitlyn is a middle child and as a middle child she feels stuck trying to find an identity.

She needs to be the center of attention, and something she's never been overly aggressive about - needing attention from people.  But I know that as a middle child, she needs something, one thing, anything - she needs to be the best at something.

Sadly, the thing that she is the best at it is this rebellion, the teenage angst, her drug use addiction, her anger.

I struggle with this because I knew all of this before this chaos even started. I knew it; I tried to prevent it. I tried to get her to be the best at something else, but all of my education and experience failed. I think this is one of the few times I have admitted to anyone that I feel like a failure.  Even as I edit this, I can hear Kaitlyn's voice chiding me, "This is not about you!"

I know other parents of difficult children have similar feelings:  I've talked with several and have read many blogs and articles. Most parents feel at a loss.

I have said it before that I was not naive enough to think I could do something better or that I had the answer.  I will say it again.  However, I am not sure why I feel so much disappointment, such a sense of failure.  Kaitlyn would tell you right now that she feels like a failure,  that she feels like no one will forgive her.

We need a success. Kaitlyn desperately needs a success, and I would give it to her if I could.
I need a success because I am beginning to descend into depression and apathy.

As I begin to understand the dynamics of incest and shaming in a family, I remember that Kaitlyn is a victim.  I remind myself of all the  negative emotions, the rage, the confusion that comes with this family dynamic.  Then, I compound all those emotions together with the  normal teenage hormones and confusion.  No wonder Kaitlyn is a mess.

Feelings of rejection, of disposal even, in this family dynamic are so intertwined with the ideal of family love and support.  The perpetrator then "throws away" the victim.  The rejection is compounded because of that sense of love.  It seems almost impossible to reconcile the feelings of victimization, rejection, loss, love and acceptance.  In an incest situation, the rejection comes from the abuse, not because of an unworthiness to be loved.  Yet, victims often struggle to understand this.  It is so innate to want love and acceptance.  What a really tragic cycle that a victim continues to seek love from the perpetrator.

I try to talk to her as much as I can about how normal her emotions are - the ping-pong effect of all the emotions blended together, each emotions fighting the other for her attention, contradicting each other, supporting each other.  What a sad and tragic situation.  The unfairness of it hits me solidly most days, and I am impotent to find a solution.  

Celebrations and the Reality of Incest

original date 03/18/2014

One of the most damaging and pervasive side effects of incest and shaming is the lack of family celebrations. Turning 18 should be the top of celebrations, and  Kaitlyn turned 18 this year. Struggling to have a sense of normalcy, she wanted the big 18th birthday party.  It didn't happen.

When you have decreased the number of family members in your intermediate circle because of incest and shaming, you can't have those big family celebrations you used to have, or wants to have.  She would tell you herself there is no way she wanted to invite the family, but then in the same short conversation she would lament the loss of having all those family members.  The fact that her dad's family has completely abandoned my daughters does not help.  There truly is no support system from the family on either side.

I put some effort into getting Kaitlyn all kinds of things to remember her 18th birthday - a cute tiara, a pin, some balloons, to name a few.  I did invite a few close friends and neighbors, and of course I invited the family that is not involved in this abuse.  Those not involved in the abuse could've came if they chose to, but they chose not to - that's how weird this shaming situation is in families.  Talk about the giant polka-dot elephant in the room.  Kaitlyn deserves so much more.  My heart breaks for her.

Her 16th birthday was the one I really wanted to celebrate and blow out of the water,  It was before all this information came out, and the 16th birthday was completely ignored by the family.  It doesn't make a difference that we've decided to pull away from them because if they can't be in control they choose not to participate.  It is too much for a grown, well educated and mature woman to handle.  I can only imagine the pressure of a vulnerable teenager.

I hold onto the keepsakes, the pictures and try to journal hoping she'll remember it;  hopefully one day she'll know that she was loved and know who the people are that really do care about her.