There is a lot of hurt there. And a fair amount of fear. And going through it God knows I wished I was anywhere but there. I use to dream that I was adopted and someone would come and rescue me from it all. I would count down the years till I turned 18 and would leave. 

But right here and right now I wouldn't want to change it. I am glad I went through it all. It has made me the preson I am. And this person nows has hopes and dreams and the desire to change her future and take control of her life. She knows that she can't change the past, and has no control over what has already happened. But she doesn't care. She knows that if those years of her life hadn't happened she wouldn't be here, the person she is, knowing what she does, and who she is now. 


And I am slowly learning to like this person, so all in all I am so very glad that I have suffered through what I have because it has made me stronger made me a survivor and I know that now that what happened was a good thing. It made me who I am. 
 
I wished that I could walk away from my life, walk away from my family, walk away from my pain, walk away from my memories. I wished that I could leave everything behind, and never come back. I wished I never had to see anyone, or anything associated with my life again. Yes, there would be people and things that I would miss, but it would be worth it for the new start that would come with it. Yea, I would be heaven. But that wasn't possible, however much I may have hoped for it. 

But I wasn't really thinking straight at the time, I was simply consumed with hate...consumed with fear, and unspoken feelings. I was trapped, in chains, and hating every second of it. 

One day, I told myself, I will walk out of this house that is no longer home, and never return. I won't, I told myself, see any of these people again, I won't speak to them again. They aren't my family. They haven't been for a long time. Or so I told myself. Reading this makes my really upset, because I can't imagine hating them like this, I can't imagine leaving them, or my home. It does make me cry. But thats how I felt, so thats why I'm saying this. 

I was so alone. I didn't feel like I had a family, I didn't feel like I had a life. But what little of a life I did have I didn't want to share. 

So I fought, I had a dream, and I was trying so hard to make it come true. I was sure that I was going to be a surgeon. (I don't think so, that dream died a long time ago! It was never going to happen. Not clever enough!) 

But I held on...

Kat x
 
I wanted it all to end...life was stupid, upsetting and so very frustrating. I couldn't cope with feeling, feeling anything. Being numb was so much easier. 

I didn't want my family, I didn't want my friends, I didn't want school, I didn't want to learn, I didn't want any of it, I didn't want to live. Yet I know I couldn't die. So what was I meant to do? 

There was no escape. I had no freedom. My Mum was always there. There was no way out of it. I didn't want to see people. Yet I didn't want Mum following me everywhere. 

I just feel so useless, like I wasn't wanted. And maybe I wasn't, I never did anything right, and I really didn't try, I was just like a spare part. Not really a part of anything. Just there.

Nothing made me feel better, and so I retreated more and more into myself, living inside my head. In a world only I knew existed. A world that is still with me. A World that helps me through each and every day, good or bad. 

I knew what I needed though. I needed a friend. A friend who knew me better than I knew myself. I needed a friend to love me, who I could turn to when I was feeling down, who would hug me, and love me and tell me it was going to be okay. In short what I needed was a Connie...(I'll explain another time).
 
I once had a really weird dream, that has stayed with me for a long time. 

I dreamt that my Mum kicked me out of the house, which is NOT going to happen, but anyway. I got in this car that was waiting outside, I don't know who was driving, all I know is that we drove off. They dropped me off somewhere and I just started to walk. A little while later I cam across this track, and there was Sara walking down it with someone else, they were walking away from me, but I called out and as she turned the space between us was suddenly gone, and there she was hugging me. 

I know that we carried on walking, and then we reached what I guess was Sara's house. She let me live with her. 

It was a good dream, but I know that it will never happen. 

And I guess that you have to accept reality for what it is...as much as I would love to live my dream life, I know that it cannot happen. So I have to focus on reality, and living it to the full. I know that I can't suddenly become 5ft 5" and 8 stone. I know that I can't suddenly be a Commander in the Army, running an Academy in the midlands. I know that I can't be a surgeon working in Queen Elizabeths Hospital. I can't do these things. But I can get good enough A Levels to allow me to study History at University. I know that I can write a book about these things though...

All it takes is belief...xx

Kat xx
 
As you know seeing people was hard for me...I preferred to be by myself, where there was no risk of disappointing anyone but me...were I couldn't hurt anyone but me...everyone annoyed me...and I didn't understand it...all I knew was that it was safer for me to be by myself. 

Over the summer we repainted my bedroom. I think that helped things, because there was no getting away from my family then, I had to talk, I had to be nice and polite, I had to cope. So maybe that helped me, I don't know. All I know is that it was good that we did repaint my room, because it helped wash away the memories that those walls contained. 

I often wondered whether Sara thought of me over the summer like I did her. I didn't really think about the future...or whether I would continue to see her, or stuff like that. I just thought about what she had said to me, conversations we had had during the year, that kind of stuff...because it helped....

Kat xx

Take what you need...but never forget those that helped you...xx
 
Breaking up from school meant that I wouldn't see Sara for six weeks. And that was something that I wasn't looking forward to. Since my discloser in March Sara had kept me going. She was why I had coped. She was literally my everything. And knowing that I wouldn't see her meant that my coping system would be, well, non existent. So how was I going to survive? 

Sara was my friend. She had already invited herself to my wedding. Which well, I haven't even got a boyfriend. 

I would really miss her, and her advice, and her caring personality. 

But there was light at the end of the tunnel, when we got back in September she was going to be my mentor, which meant that I would see her every week. I knew that we wouldn't be discussing anything school related. But I didn't need a mentor to help me with school, I needed a mentor to help me personally, which I knew she would. 

Yet as the end of term drew nearer I did feel happier. Which was strange, I thought it would be the other way around. But I didn't really question it. Just went with the flow. I knew now that I wouldn't have to wait that long for counseling. 

I was expecting to bomb at first. As everyone told me I would. But I figured that I couldn't get any lower. 

The end of school was going to be difficult though. School was my escape. Home was terrible. I felt like I was continually walking on egg shells. Everyone was so on edge. I never knew where I stood. Mum really wasn't coping. It was so hard on her. I did try. But I was only 14. I couldn't help her like she needed help. 

Some days you feel like you can't cope. You feel like you can't go on. You feel you will never reach the other side. But just look around you. If you can't do it for you, do it for everyone you care about. I did it for Sara and Mum. They gave me hope and strength. And I thank God every day for them. 


IMPORTANT MESSAGE: You family, as hard a time as they may give you. They only do it because they love you. And they are hurting because you got hurt. So relax, give them a break. Don't argue with them, accept what they are saying, even if you disagree with it, because it will make things slightly easier for you. They will want to limit your freedom, and though you may hate it, stick with it, after a while they will let you go again. For months my Mum took me everywhere with her, I hated it, but it was best in the long run, because then we became closer and she learnt to trust me. 

NEVER GIVE UP

Kat xx
 
There were good weeks, and bad weeks. There were good days, and bad days. There were good hours of the day, and bad hours of the day. 
And the 19th of July was one of those bad days, with many bad hours. Especially the hour that I spent crying. I didn't even attend the last lesson of the day I was that upset. And all I thought about was why couldn't I cope! A question which is no longer relevant. 
I had already asked for counseling at this point and had just been told when my first session would be. The 27th, which was the day after my 15th birthday. 
And that was one thing that I was truly dreading. My birthday. What was the point? I wasn't happy. And as far as I could see there was nothing worth celebrating. 


Sara was the one good thing that had come of my discloser as far as I was concerned. She came into my life that day. And if I hadn't of disclosed I would never have known her. She was the one person who I could fully open up to. 

Sara was kind. Sara was always considerate. Sara cared. Sara was always there, she gave up so much of her time to help me. Why? Because she cared. Not that I saw that to begin with. It took time. But I did realize that, eventually. 

Sara gave up 3 hours that day to stay with me. And since that day, God knows how much time she has spent with me. Listening to me. Helping me. Making me feel better. Yea, she is the good that has come of this. 

I knew that whenever I had a bad day she would be there. Someone to run to, who understood me. 

I cared for her alot. I still do care alot. More now than ever. Sara isn't just a teacher, she is a friend, and also she is my surrogate mother. And I guess my Guardian Angel. If you are into that sort of thing. 

She doesn't realize just how much I care for her. I have tried to tell her, many times. But there simply aren't enough words in the English language for me to tell her. Though, here and now I will freely admit that I love her. 

Sara is incredible and I feel so lucky to have met her. 
 
Time never waited. It didn't wait for me to cope, it just kept flying by, never giving me time to adjust to the crazy situation I had found myself in. Time never waits, not even for those who have power and wealth beyond human imagination. 

I wished that I was free, I wished that I was a surgeon. I wished that I was living my dream. 


I seemed to be living inside my head, that was the only place where I felt safe. Inside the realms of my mind was a lot nicer world, a kinder world, a world where I felt like I belonged. Admittedly the world that I imagined did hold a lot of death and sorrow, but there was always another side to it, a side that held peace and love and happiness, laughter and joy, adventure and freedom. My world, my escape took reality and fantasy and twisted them into something impossible, yet beautiful. I wished, and still do wish, a thousand times a day that I was living that life. 


Days all seemed that same, I was barely aware of the world passing me by. All my feelings were crazy seeming to me. I knew that I needed to sort them out somehow, but I didn't know where to start. 


I pushed my family away, whether I meant to or not, it happened. I was determined not to cry, and not be weak anymore. I did what everyone told me not to. I tried to stand alone. 


And I lost myself inside my mind, because that was my escape, that was the one thing that kept me going, the one thing that never let me down. The one thing that allowed me to be exactly who I wanted to be. The one thing that was my comfort. It was simply my life. It was everything that I needed it to be. There I was someone. 


So my message for today is to find what helps you to cope and to grab onto it with both hands, and stick to it, if it helps to forget what ever it is you have had to cope with, even if it is for a few minutes a day then do it. Because we all need an escape. But don't let it push out your real life, because that makes it harder to accept what has happened, and in order to move forward you DO have to accept it. 


Well, until tomorrow 


Kat x