{#TellYourTrauma submission: “I quickly said ‘no’, ”}
{#TellYourTrauma is an ongoing project designed to bring awareness to the prevalence of trauma. The submitted stories are used to support, educate and build community among trauma survivors. I also use the stories as a way to help educate both the professional audiences I teach. You can share your own story here.}
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I was 20. I was in college. I had just pulled into the parking lot to head to my first class of the day when my phone rang. It was my mom so I cheerfully picked up "Hey Mom". Her voice cracked as she asked me if an uncle had ever touched me inappropriately when I was a child. I quickly said "no" and asked why she would ask me something like that. She then told me about a cousin revealing the secret to her parents after going to a therapist and my older sister coming forward after finding out about my cousin. We hung up and I sat in the car trying to process everything. Then, I picked the phone back up to call my mom. When she answered, I told her it had happened to me too - my uncle had molested me when I was about 4 years old. Later, I found out he had also molested my younger sister. I had repressed these memories for years. They would often come up and I would dismiss these memories as sick nightmares my mind was making up.
When all of this came forward, many members of my molester's side of the family dismissed the accusations as misunderstandings and not valid since it occurred so many years when we were children. My grandparents begged my cousin not to say anything for fear the molester would leave their daughter (our aunt). It felt like nobody on that side of the family believed us or even cared about what happened because we were just girls and our experiences didn't matter. My sisters and cousin have not spoken to anyone on that side of the family since. It's been 15 years now.
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