5 dollar foot long

5 dollar foot long, any any any, 5...dollar foot long

I can still hear that tune ringing in my ears. Oh my, how much time has gone by watching my beloved boob tube. Anyways, I've got to say...I've learned quite a lot from watching TV. Things I hope to God I'll never have to experience have been summarized in just an hour of each Oprah episode. (You can see where this is going, which won't exactly be pretty...so much for my happy, silly, irrelevant posts). There was a show last week of Oprah interviewing men (who have been undergoing therapy for many years) who had molested girls. It should be known that 90% of molestation occurs with someone close...the rest of the 10% are strangers. One was an old man who molested a family friend's 5 year old girl who called him 'Grandpa'. Another man was a father who molested his own 12-yr-old daughter while she was sleeping (or pretending to for the most part). The third man was one who molested his family friend and neighbor since he was about 8, and the little girl being 5. This went on until she was 17. The fourth man was one who molested 14-yr-old girls. My point is, although as disgusting they may be, molesters ARE human. They are fully aware of what they're doing, and DO regret it (well, the 4 men that are in therapy are just a few). They are trying to get back their lives as well, and lead a possibly "clean" lifestyle. Like man #3 says, he knows he destroyed the life of the girl he molested and raped, and acknowledges that there really is no difference of the two actions. Furthermore, he knows his actions killed who she could have been. As for the father who molested his daughter, he was glad she turned him in to get help. The sad part is, most girls are molested by people they trust and yearn attention and praise from; people who they think love them dearly. But molesters are manipulative, and there really is no excuse for the damage and destruction they cause.

Take a scenario and flip it around. Molesters are not only men. Earlier this week Oprah interviewed a man who was abused and molested by his own mother. The abuse started since he could remember, and the molestation occurred when he was about 8. Not only was he molested, but he was forced to do things he didn't want to do. And at that age he was prostituted- his mom would bring men inside the house and tell him they needed money to put food on the table. It's astonishing what he went through. As I write this blog I can't help crying to have seen his cute, bright smiling yearbook photos. Behind that smile was a VERY CUTE boy who yearned to be normal, have freshly washed clothes instead of the stench he wore every day, and a boy who had a mom instead of a monster. So the story goes on...his younger sister is also molested by the mother, and one day there's a man waiting in the living room for her. Being a courageous brother at around age 10, he tells his sister to hide and then tells his mother off. He talks back for perhaps the first time in his life and tells his mom that his sister is NEVER going to go through what he goes through. Of course he gets a beating from his mom and ends up doing the task that was actually set up for his sister. And what he said during the interview was, "That was the best decision I ever made." To this day his sister calls him her 'savior'. At age 15 he finally had a way to take an initiative. He stole money from his mother's purse and went to a store to call a social worker or something, and in 2 weeks was free of his mother's wrath. However, after 30 or so years, he has recurring nightmares (almost every night) of his childhood.

It's unbelievable what some people go through in closed doors. And to continue to live through all that confusion and all those mixed emotions is beyond me. Those people, the one's who undergo hardships and persevere through it all, are my heroes. And what is truly amazing is that the man loves his mother despite it all. She is, after all, his mother.