Rescued

By Alana M. Brayboy

Rescued is an autobiography about a child horrifically sexually, physically, emotionally abused from the ages five to seventeen years old. This book will reveal how her faith in God rescued her and led her to write this book and share her story. This story offers hope to victims of abuse with educational and spiritual tools to help break the cyc

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Nov 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781648956645

Alana M. Brayboy

This is a picture of Alana celebrating her fortieth birthday. This was a true celebration of her life, which she never thought she would live until twenty. Alana now lives a life that God has blessed her with freedom, hope, and joy. She enjoys life and lives it to the fullest. Alana enjoys her time by the lake with family and friends. Traveling, biking, working out, attending concerts, cooking, and gardening are just a few of her interests. Alana was a preschool teacher for years and currently is a clinical behavior health therapist for mental health and substance use working with children, teens, and adults of all ages. She is looking forward to using her book Rescued as an educational tool to do seminars and speaking engagements to help educate those who suffer or suffered from abuse and how to break the cycle of abuse and bring inner healing to help them become a survivor of hope and forgiveness.

Book preview

Introduction

As I grew up in a horrific, abusive environment, I never thought I would live to twenty years old.

I never thought I would see the day of me writing a book. It was by the grace of God and those significant people that God placed throughout my life that I was truly rescued from being a victim of abuse and trauma into being a survivor of triumph.

As you read this book, some of the materials, the events and acts of abuse that I endured, are vile, unimaginable, and criminal. However, everything in this book is a true account of my life story.

This book is written in dedication for all those who have suffered or are suffering from any type of childhood abuse or trauma of any kind. This book is to offer hope and strength to know that there is a new life after suffering from the effects of an abusive childhood or any type of trauma. This book offers true facts and studies to help others learn how to help those who might have suffered or are currently suffering from abuse. Instead of once being a victim, you can live a successful life from tragedy to triumph!

Alana M. Brayboy MA, LLPC CADC

Lisa C. Beauvais MA, LPC, NBCC

Chapter 1

A Purpose The Beginning of My Journey

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.

—Jeremiah 1:5

My name is Alana Brayboy, and I was born on August 8, 1976. When I was six weeks old, the woman who gave birth to me, who will be known as Jezebel throughout this book, was an alcoholic and drug addict who was unfit to take care of me. The responsibility fell upon my biological grandmother, who worked full-time. She would ask coworkers at work, Would anyone like to take care of my six-week-old granddaughter? This coworker of my grandma’s said, Let me ask my wife. I’m sure she would love to. Actually, my wife has been feeling ill for a while, and just months ago, my wife expressed a desire and stated, ‘If I had only had another child to take care of, maybe I would feel better.’

Well, it was this day when her husband came home and asked, Honey, there is a coworker at work that is in a dire situation and needs to have a family take care of her six-week-old granddaughter for a while. The wife’s name was Mary, and with great gladness and relief, she said, Oh, yes. From that day forward was when my journey began.

I was raised by Mary, who I always called Meme, and her husband from six weeks until five years old, and off and on until I was eight years old. I was blessed to have the opportunity of being placed into the hands of a woman who wanted to nurture another child, even though she had two children of her own. This is where I would like to emphasize how important attachment is in a child’s life. According to John Bowlby, the founder of the attachment theory, Attachment is a special emotional relationship that involves an exchange of comfort, care, and pleasure.

Bowlby believed that attachment aids in survival. The propensity to make strong emotional bonds to particular individuals [is] a basic component of human nature (Bowlby 1988).

According to the attachment theory, the four characteristics of attachment are the following:

Proximity Maintenance: The desire to be near the people to whom we are attached

Safe Haven: Returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face of a fear or threat

Secure Base: The attachment figure acts as a base of security from which the child can explore the surrounding environment

Separation Distress: Anxiety that occurs in the absence of the attachment figure

Growing up from an infant to a toddler and to a small child, I thought Mary was my mother. My grandmother would come and visit weekly. Mary loved and enjoyed taking care of me. Her family would feed me, play with me, and take me on vacations. As any typical toddler growing up, I had my set of accidents, from swallowing a quarter to getting stitches in my chin.

I can still remember this incident to this day. I must have been around two years old, and Mary and her husband took me camping. I remember running with only my diaper on, as Mary’s husband tried to pick me up from a baby cub who went to bite my diaper. I also remember Mary’s daughter, who was in high school, interacting with me and taking me in the snow to make snow angels.

The day came