They didn’t carry those memories.
They didn’t live with the fear.
They didn’t spend years wondering why the adults who were supposed to protect them didn’t.
For years, I thought staying quiet was the only way to keep my family together.
Now I understand something different.
Their silence was their choice.
But speaking is mine.
I can’t change what happened when I was seven.
I can’t go back and rescue that little girl.
But I can finally stand beside her.
I can tell her:
“It wasn’t your fault.”
And if another child is reading this someday, I hope they understand something too.
If someone is hurting you, tell somebody you trust.
Keep telling someone until somebody listens.
You deserve to be protected.
You deserve to be believed.
And what happened to you does not become your fault just because an adult told you to keep it secret.
Silence protected the people who hurt me for years.
I don’t want silence to protect them anymore.
