trigger warning Why Gary Why?
Entry posted by asparkofcourage in Education ·
296 views
This is an excellent book. The author, Jody Plauche, was sexually abused by his karate teacher for over a year and then kidnapped for about a week. His father, famously, shot the karate teacher on live tv in an airport. This was Jody's story from his point of view. He talked about the abuse, kidnapping, the murder and then the end of the book are chapters for parents and survivors. He talks about signs to look out for, the way of thinking for predators and how to move forward from abuse. Very inspiring story and its a very easy read. There are semi-graphic descriptions of his abuse, but its mostly how his mom reacted to all the news that helped him move forward. He said she never broke down in front of him, made him feel like a normal child despite what happened, taught him proper sex health education, listened to him (didn't force him to open up about what happened), and lots more. His main points for moving forward are to have a good support system, to find the positive in the negative and to not feel like you will always be broken or can never be fixed. That mindset will always keep you down. He says he's very grateful for his mom still letting him go to friends houses even though he was kidnapped a few days prior. Feeling like a normal kid made all the difference. Also, as he got older, he kept himself from doing certain things like drinking, not because he was addicted, but because he cared about his image as a survivor and wanted to prove that alcohol wasn't necessary to overcome abuse. He also equates coping with childhood abuse to grieving the loss of something. Some days you can cry and other days feel like normal. Things may trigger you when least expected but it's okay to feel those emotions as they come.
Personally, reading all these stories of people who have overcome their child sexual abuse really does give me hope for myself. Someone asked me why I read all these depressing stories, doesn't it make me sadder? It really doesn't. Its nice to not feel so alone.
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