04/06/2026
After my dad was murdered, that’s when life really went south.
There was a lot of drink involved (not me). I was surrounded by domestic violence, unhealthy relationships, and situations that no child should really have to navigate.
My childhood was taken away from me very quickly. This isn’t a rare thing there’s literally so many of us navigating this in our adult life
I had trusted adults around me who genuinely did their best for us, and for that I’ll always be grateful. But unfortunately, we were still exposed to a lot of questionable behaviour and instability.
But none of that changes the impact it had.
This was the period that really started to shape my beliefs about myself, relationships, and the world around me.
The person whose role it was to keep me safe had been taken away, and the parent left behind turned to alcohol and bad relationships to cope.
The things I thought were normal growing up were absolutely not normal.
It wasn’t until years later, when I started working with young people and had my own baby’s that I realised that.
I’ve since learned that so many of us carry similar stories. When our caregivers aren’t able to keep us safe, we often go searching for that safety, love, and connection elsewhere.
And sometimes we look for it in places that aren’t safe.
It breaks my heart how many young girls/women follow these same patterns, desperately seeking love, acceptance, and belonging because somewhere along the line, somebody failed them. Because there is no one there supporting and helping us through those feelings.
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