Forgiveness (content note)

October 13, 2014, Peggy McAloon, Personal Experiences,

I decided when I was eighteen that the right thing for me was to face my abuser and forgive him for the sins committed against me. When I was finished, he looked at me a bit confused, and said, "Forgive me? You're the one who wanted it!" I was only 7 the first time I was raped. His answer stunned me, but that was the day I began to heal. This man did not deserve my forgiveness, but I no longer doubted that I had ever done anything to deserve the life I had as a young child.I didn't realize until that exact moment in time that the person I needed to forgive was myself for feeling so guilty for so many years that I must have done something wrong to trigger the abuse.

 

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