Nearly a Decade Later

by Brenda

I suppose I didn't have it as bad as most.  My mom would hit me when I
 was a kid, as far back as I can remember.  I remember hiding behind
 my bed as she threw a small table at me when I was eight.  But, then she realized she had a problem and went to
 counseling.  I think the last time she hit me was late late elementary
 school. 
 Not long after my mom stopped, my dad started abusing me. 

I told him on my 18th birthday that he
 could no longer claim it was discipline, so if he ever touched me
 again, I was calling the police and filing an assault charge.  The
 last time he hit me was the day before I turned 18.
 

I still have a relationship with my parents, though I no longer live
 in the same country as they do.  Talking on the phone is safer.  It
 takes me several weeks to recover emotionally from a visit with them, even though at 27 years old, it's been almost a decade since the last
 instance of physical abuse.
       
       

My parents have a foster child now.  So far, I don't think they've hurt this child. 
  He's a boy, so maybe that's why.  To the best of my knowledge, my
 little brother was never abused either.  Even so, it's hard seeing
 them treat this child so much nicer than I was ever treated.