Brave Enough to Bare Our Scars: Healing from Sexual Abuse

Originally published on Becky Beresford

I always hated climbing those giant steps. The ones above my second-grade kneecaps. Frank, my friendly, rumpled bus driver, gave me his warmest smile, but all kindness ended there.

The fifth-grade bully sat in his assigned seat near the front and stuck out his foot to trip me. I caught myself mid-stumble and looked up into a sea of laughing faces. But they weren’t mocking my clumsiness. They were making obscene comments and using words I didn’t understand. Slowly, the horror dawned on me. My “friend” had leaked my secret to the entire bus. She was the only person I had told about the abuse.

Gulping back tears, I made my way toward the back, searching for an empty seat. As I walked that lonely aisle I made myself a silent promise, “I will never tell anyone again!”