Which is on purpose.
I try very hard to be a kind person, but it's really a facade so I feel safe and protected at a distance.
There's a reason for that.
<7 Years Old: I was on a family vacation in Michigan. An adult male grabbed my butt when I was in a souvenir shop. I was too scared to tell anyone.
<7 Years Old: A neighbor boy stalked my babysitter while we sunbathed and we weren't allowed to go outside anymore. This same neighbor boy tickled me so much one day after I begged him to stop and I peed my pants.
10 Years Old: I played truth or dare at a birthday party and we were all bullied to touch the butt of the girl next to us. I can't remember the rest. Honestly, I think I've blacked out the memories. I think there were other parties before this that I don't remember because I remember fearing when it was time for bed at that birthday party. I've only brought it up once to a friend who attended the parties with me. She didn't remember it ever happening.
16 Years Old: There was a girl who would text me every day bible verses through text or on my Facebook wall and ask how I was doing daily. It didn't stop for almost two years. She followed me to another state and I ended the friendship.
17 Years Old: I was cheated on.
17 Years Old: A music teacher talked to me about sex and would have inappropriate conversations with me after school. He was later fired for misconduct for similar conversations with other students. I never told anyone.
20 Years Old: I was cheated on again by the same person.
21 Years Old: I was in a Walmart shopping for makeup. A man came to my aisle and asked for help in buying slippers for his wife. I agreed. He quickly got down on the ground and started groping the arch of my foot. I panicked. I kicked my foot away and ran away.
24 Years Old: I had a male client tell me I should wear more high heels to work.
27 Years Old: I was married and at a business conference. I started talking to a man sitting next to me whom I recognized. At the time, I had started getting into more new-age stuff. (You don't have to worry, I'm far from that now.) He offered to help me work through some childhood trauma in order to help improve my marriage. I agreed, desperate for help. He used the opportunity to get me into a meditative, hypnotic state and raped me. He asked me to thank him for his service afterward. It turned into a manipulative affair. He's done this to other women and asked for money. He's still free.
29 Years Old: I made out with a guy. Afterward, he told me he'd never date someone who was divorced.
30 Years Old: I had an old boss make sexual advances toward me and told me he could get me to sleep with him if he wanted to.
I am just one woman. Could you imagine if these are just my stories, what stories others have?