My past is a long and sordid tale. I'd buried half of it so deep inside that those memories hadn't crossed my mind in years and sometimes decades. I'd venture a guess that I don't know even 5% of the trials my grandparents endured. Each time I'm made privy to some new confession (about an older or deceased family member by a younger one who was one of only a few let it on the secret), I'm shocked that it wasn't something we talked about within our own families. Rape and incest and abuse? Check, check, check. When talking with friends, I hear the same tales. Grandma so-and-so was molested by her brother for five years. Aunt such-and-such was raped by a close family friend for a decade. My Grandma's cousin Susie-Q was raped by a date and her mom told her to keep it to herself like a good girl.
