Why I Told (Part 2)

I still remember the agony in her eyes.

“Why did you run, and I didn't?” my sister asked.

Together, through our tears, peering back across the years, we searched for the answer.

You see, I wasn't alone in the barn that day when the teenage hired-hand attempted to molest me. My sister was with me.

She froze. I ran.

Two sisters.

Two different personalities. She was naturally quiet. I was not.

Two different stages of development. She was nine. I was four.

And what we believe to be the most significant difference—she was already a survivor. Years before, another had stolen her innocence.

Shame—the great immobilizer. Shame—the great silencer.

My sister froze. She no longer felt the freedom to run.

She didn't tell. She had already lost her voice.

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And, we believe, because I was with her, my big sister, and empowered by her presence, the hired-hand didn't get the chance to impart his shame on us that warm summer afternoon in 1968. I was able to yell, “No!”  Run. And tell.

Shame can render the most talkative child mute at any age. We must teach children about sexual abuse. So they can understand what it is. So they can yell, run, and tell.

Why I Told (Part 1)