I always feel so happy when I get in touch with the kids I have not met or heard from for so long. This time, through one of the networks out there, "Sally" got in touch with me.( I do not think I want to use her real name at the moment...for you will understand the reasons as you read on.
"Cher, you still remember me? I am married now, and I have a darling little girl. I promise you that I will protect her so much so that she will never have to go through the things I experienced. Thank you for helping me move on." This was the message that accompanied a picture of her hugging a cute toddler.
Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top
Sally...
Sally is still imprinted in my mind as a 13-year-old...Sally, the pretty little girl, but with the saddest limpid eyes. My Sally who did not trust easily, cowered when spoken to, and could not bear anyone to go near her. Sally may not have spoken much verbally, but her writing revealed so much.
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When Sally turned 15, she came out of her cocoon. There was such a transformation that I was puzzled. She found her voice; her spirit, and she rebelled. She literally could raise hell. I remembered talking to her parents...who promised that they would "rein her in"
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
I found that they had been reining her in oh for so long. Once, during her wild outbursts, I took her aside. Like a deflated balloon all out of gas, she collapsed, and that was when I saw the long gashes to her legs. And the marks on her back...and the black and blue bruises here and there.
Down will come baby, cradle and all.
So that was how I found out about the physical and mental abuse. Back then, if such things happen within the family, the matter somehow was kept under wraps. She went on to live with her aunt, and quietly completed her education...and I never heard from her again...until yesterday.
The hand that rocks the cradle...as a parent,a mother, I simply cannot imagine how one can turn against your own flesh and blood. Man prides himself as being better than animals...because he is able to think and rationalize. But Man who prey on their offsprings are not better than the wild beasts...at least the animals that kill and eat their young do it for survival reasons.
It's scary.
Having children is one of the hardest(yet rewarding) responsibility that comes with marriage and parenthood. You are obligated to love, care for, nurture, protect the child you bring into the world. Yet many are shirking from fulfilling these. Some even go to the extent of becoming the monsters who haunt their children for life.
I know many of you have read "A Child Called IT", "Damaged" and so on. Let me tell you...there are many more untold stories just like these...more heart-wrenching than those.
If you are interested...try looking out for the articles on Kelsey Briggs...of how she lost her young life at three...by the hands that rock the cradle.
Sally, I am happy for you...and I believe that you will truly be a great mother to your child.
Dear God,
Please protect all the children of the world, the innocent, the trusting, the innocent souls. Give the wisdom to parents and adults who look after them so that they will do their best to raise their little ones in the best way ever. Ameen
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