It’s Complicated

CC image courtesy of Flicker, Studio Incendo. Editorial note: The following is reprinted with permission from Laurie Works’ blog. It was originally published on June 18, 2015. When I tell people about my relationship with my dad now, sometimes they’re surprised. For one, I still talk to him. A lot of people think this is weird. I think… yes… but he’s my dad. I

Bird Set Free: Avia’s Story

Content warning: Victim blaming, child abuse, body shaming, and religious shaming of mental illness Editorial note: The author’s name has been changed to ensure anonymity. “Avia” is a pseudonym.  There are a few incidents in my life that pushed me to leave home. Clipped wings, I was a broken thing… When I was nineteen years old, I fell into a

Parents

“My family is looked up to in churches, cited as examples, people seek out my parents to ask them advice about homeschooling and child-rearing (and other things)… No one sees the dark underbelly of what it looks like to grow up with them and their life choices, no one registers the fake smiles, no one sees past the masks. And I get to pick up the pieces.”

This Road I’ve Traveled

“I could never do this. I could never put the fake smile on and pretend that I hadn’t watched my dad throw the breakfast dishes in the sink that morning because someone dared to speak back to him. I couldn’t stand by and watch my siblings suffer while no one knew what happened behind the doors of my family’s home.”

A Disconnected Father’s Day

“If you have a Dad that you are estranged from or who is not fully participating in your life today because of being indoctrinated with these sorts of ideas, know that you are not alone and it is also not your fault. We can’t choose our parents and we can’t fix them. You just carry on as best you can.”