The Forgotten Corner of the Garden

By Diane M. Reaves

Diane M. Reaves attempts to share the road taken from that of a victim to that of a survivor. For those who have endured severe child abuse and the years of healing, this author shares that it can be done. You can break the cycle of abuse.

Enduring the suicide of both her parents, as well as her paternal grandfather and first cousin, she proves that such behaviors and patterns do not have to be repeated.

With each story shared, this survivor hopes to teach other abused adult survivors that something good can come out of something bad.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546223467

Diane M. Reaves

Diane M. Reaves currently lives in Virginia with her husband of thirty two years. She is the author of Dance of the Crippled Angel. She has also written many poems domestically, as well as, abroad. She had won several awards for her short stories. You can find some of her work in the Xulon Press Release of; How I Met My True Love.

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© 2018 Diane M. Reaves. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   01/10/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-2347-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-2346-7 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Public Domain

CONTENTS

FAITH

UNLIMITED MERCIES

YESTERDAY

ILLUSION

SPIRIT KILLER

MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY AT CHURCH

BROTHERLY FEED BACK

I HATE CHRISTMAS

HISTORICAL PREVENTION

THE HEM OF YOUR CLOAK

LINEAGE

8,030 MOONS

CIRCLES

DAMAGED

THE PRAYER

RAIN

ABYSS

GOD’S RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF US

INNER DEMONS

DO ANGELS WEEP?

A DARK SHADOW

PARENTAL UNITS

MONSTERS

A WARD OF THE STATE

OPEN WOUND

STILLNESS

ONE YEAR

NEST

SOJOURNERS

SILENCE

SOMEONE

LIES

INCLINE THY EAR TO MY VOICE

OLD SOUL

You may think survivors of horrific child abuse have no reason to complain, let alone attempt to write books to share their experiences. But I think it’s important for others to know what such a life is like. Living under the control of others. The pain of others. The neglect of others.

I have always been honest with all my experiences. But you need to remember this; It was not my choice to be abused. It was not my choice to endure, not only physical abuse, but emotional and psychological abuse. It was not my choice to endure sexual abuse.

Some may say, why didn’t you run away, or report it?

I did both, and many, many times. I was dragged back every single time I ran away! Every single time I told someone about what was going on, it mattered not. I was still returned to the den of Hell. But it didn’t matter. I told the Police in absolute terror what was going on. I begged them in hysterical tears, and vomiting, what was going on. And they still forced me to go back there!

This left some scars as well. Crying out for help and being totally ignored and returned to the scene of horrific abuse.

I wanted to share some statistics on the state of child abuse in the United States.

Did you know, every single year, 3.6 million referrals are made to the Child Protective Services Offices?

In the United States, 4 to 7 children, a day, DIE from child abuse and child neglect.

A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.

3.2 million kids EACH YEAR have been subjected to a CPS investigation.

The United States has one of the worse records in child abuse cases.

In 2014, 702,000 of child abuse were found. This would pack (10) modern football stadiums!

Children who have endured (6) or more abuse experiences, have an average life expectancy of two decades shorter!

Health issues associated with Child Abuse are:

1). Ischemic Heart Disease

2). Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

3). Liver Disease

Mental Health Disorders, Addictions and Related Problems:

1). Risk for Intimate partner violence

2). Alcoholism & Alcohol Abuse

3). Illicit drug abuse

4). Smoking and drinking at an early age

5). Depression

6). Suicide Attempts (plural)

Financial Impact of Child Abuse:

Lifetime estimates of lost worker productivity, health care costs, special education costs, child welfare expenditures and criminal justice expenditures are upwards of a staggering $124 BILLION – and this is from 2008.

This could send 1.7 Million children to college.

In 2014, and estimated 1,580 children DIED from abuse or neglect A DAY!!!

1,580 children x 365 days a year come to = 576,700 deaths a YEAR!

80% of these deaths involve at least one parent of the child.

14% of all men in prison, and 36% of all women in prison, in the United States were abused as a child.

An abused child is 9 times more likely to become involved in criminal activity.

And bear in mind, please, that some of these numbers are low ball estimates.

So if you still think, being a survivor of horrific abuse means your life is just like any other kids, you might want to do me a favor and rethink that.

I’m here to share that not enough was done, when I needed help. And certainly not enough is being done today. And instead of the President of the USA deciding to call Opiates a Health Emergency – He needs to study these numbers and talk to people like me.

I didn’t decide to take drugs to become addicted – that was some people’s choice!

I didn’t decide to stick a needle filled with heroin in my arm either. I’m sorry about those who lost loved ones to this addiction. But forgive me for feeling angry and bitter because I deserved to get this same kind of help and attention that they are receiving!

It was not my damn choice to be abused! It was not my choice to be raped! It was not my choice to endure decades, hell, a life time, of the effects of what that abuse has done to me. It wasn’t my choice to decide that abusers and tormentors were to be protected with a Statute of Limitations on their crimes. While the victim has to suffer the effects for the rest of their lives!

And