Yesterday's Tears

It is neither unusual nor uncommon to open a newspaper in this day and age without reading an article or articles dealing with child abuse. These unfortunate children are either cruelly beaten, neglected, or in some cases, murdered. As we head into the new millennium these despicable occurrences are becoming more the norm than the exception. Child abuse is nothing new, it has just become more prevalent. Society has only woken up to the fact that these innocent children need protection, not only from strangers, but even more so from their own parents and family. It's true that my life story dates back over 40 years ago when child abuse was not so widely recognized. Unfortunately, I had to survive for a long time without the aid of understanding adults and the protection of child abuse laws that have, in recent years, gone into affect. I thank god that my history of child abuse did not adversely affect me. It saddens me every time I read of children who are going through what I had to go through. As bad as my plight was, I'm sure there are children out there who are going through much worse. Rather than embitter me my history of abuse, I feel, it made me a stronger, more empathetic, and far better human being.