My story

My story

Hauser

Registrant
It was the summer of 1978. Disco was in full swing. I was 9 yrs old. I was the youngest in a disfunctional family of four. There was no abuse is my family. Only bad thing about it was that my Mother left my Father when I was 7 or so. She didnt cheat on him or anything like that, she just wasnt happy anymore, so she left my Dad alone to raise my older brother Luke and myself. This would have dire consequences later in my life, or at the very least contribute to it.

My mother had married an abusive man before she married my Father, she had two kids from him, one of which, my older half-brother, still lived with my Dad and Luke and me. My Dad knew that my half-brother Rick had a lousy upbringing and let him live at home after he turned 18 because he wanted to help him financially with a place to stay while he saved money. My brother Rick is exactly 10 years older than I. So in the summer of 78, he was 19.

My brother Rick got into the cb radio craze at a suggestion from my mother in order to help him find some constructive interest besides smoking cigarettes and working. That suggestion changed my life. My brother Rick met someone over the cb radio and they became friends. Rick was 19 and his older friend, named Kim, short for Kimball, liked to hang out. Rick told me later that Kim never tried anything with him, I guess he was just too old or not the right type, these perps have preferences too.

One night, my brother Rick invited Luke and myself to come over to Kims place and check out his model train set and hang out. He had an impressive line of model rail sets! They were really cool! I was enthralled with wonder and happiness being able to hang out with my older brother and his friend. Kim was a white-trash loser living in a trailer but I liked him. He always talked to me. I felt comfortable around him. He let me smoke cigs, (Iwas already smoking with a childhood friend named Dave, who was older than me and would play a crucial part in how I grew up, we were smoking weed, cigs, looking at porn mags). As I type this, I am reaching into areas of my brain that I have not accessed in about 30 yrs. I just wanted to be his friend. There is something really cool that happens when a kid befriends a growup. He wasnt a substitute father to me or anything like that, (although I rarely saw my dad at the time since he was working for a living and I was just a kid on summer vacation). What I dont understand, as far as my admiration for my perp goes, is that whenever I talk to kids and carry on conversation with them, they dont seem enraptured with any attention that I give them. I just say this and that and I know of this and that and its the end of the conversation. Whenever I talked to my perp, I looked UP TO HIM. I admired him. I still do in a sense. Why did I like him so much?

How did I end up in his bedroom daydreaming at the ceiling? Why did I go in there? I was hanging out with his dog named Bilbo, weird name, around his bedroom. He approached me whilst I was relaxed on his bed. He came into the room and starting talking to me. He said, Whats up?, What are you doing? I replied, Just relaxing, I like it here. He laid sideways of me and struck up conversation with me while rubbing my chest. It was a good feeling to me, no worries at all. He kept rubbing up and down my chest while we talked about family and friends and life, etc. Then he started unzipping my pants and I was like..Ummm.What are you doing? He replied, Oh, Im just doing this to see how it feels to you. I replied, OK. I said ok. .I saidOK. ..Why the HELL DID I SAY THAT?

We talked while he played with my penis. He was trying to get me to respond. Unfortunately for him, I was to young andI remember him shaking his head in disapointment staring at my unresponsive penis. This is where and when it started. It went on for a whole summer. Then, I never went over there again, and he never came over or called me. He asked me to do things for him. I didnt want to but did it so that he would like me. I just wanted to be his friend. If only he didnt do these things to me I would only have fond memories of him. Why did I like him so much? To this day, I still cant hate him for betraying me. His abuse of me changed everything in my world. I have not seen a T yet, but when I do, I will discover and share more.

I never told about he did to me right away, except to my brother Luke, and our friend Dave, both of which made fun of me, so I clamed up. I said nothing more. My friend Dave molested me a year or two later a couple times.

I wish SO BADLY that I said something to my Dad, (my only parent I lived with). But I said nothing. I kept silent. I said nothing becausehell..I dont know why. I was embarased. I didnt want to talk about it. Who wants to talk to their parents about having dicks beings put in their mouths?

A year or two later, my friend Dave, (Dave was 2 years older than me, so I was 11 and he was 13), simply threw on his downstairs bed, and started to do what I was already familiar with. I could not stop him even though I did not like what he wanted was doing to me. I could have stopped him if I wanted to. But I submitted. I submitted to himwhy I let him do this to me.I have no idea. I now suspect that he was abused as well. I just wanted him to like me. Thats all I wanted.

A couple years later, when I was 11, going on twelve, I started noticing and watching boysnot girls..

I only dated a couple girls in High School, I would have done it with some friends but theyre werent gay, and neither am I, or so I thinkI like both really now that I think about it. I look at some men and find them attractivebut..I think Im just confused. It doesnt really matter much right now because Im not with either for more than 9 years. Geez..I would like to be with SOMEONE but not just anyone. Id rather be alone than with the wrong person.

Around 7th grade, my grades went downhill. I had a poor self-image. I still do. I have done things that I cant forgive myself for. We had a couple of dogs when I was a kid and I vented my anger out on them sometimes. I smacked them around and kicked them. I hate myself for what I did to those dogs. This went on for a couple years, then I stopped. A light clicked on in my head that said, Why am I doing this? These are totally innocent creatures. I stopped hurting those dogs but I hate part of myself for what I did.
Ive come to realize that it was misdirected anger. Im trying to forgive myself, but I havent done it yet.

I hope that I have redeemed myself by being what others would call a perfect dog owner. I have recently had to euthanize a Rottweiler named Thor that I had for 10 years. He was my world. He was the kid that Ill never have. People told me that I treated him better than other people treat their children. I never left him alone, unless I was working, otherwise, he was always with me. He went everywhere I went. I worked in a restaurant and I would feed him leftover Prime Rib, Filet Mignon, Pork Tenderlion, etc. I walked him 2-4 miles a day. I treated him like Royalty. It doesnt make up for how a treated those dogs of my youth. I was a tinderbox. My older Brother Luke was scared of my anger, even though he was bigger and a couple years older than me.

My Dad didnt know what to do with me. I didnt know what to do with me. My grades went downhill, I never had girlfriends, couldnt hold jobs, did drugs, drank alcohol. When I turned 18, I passed an enterance exam to a local university, even though I had a 1.8 gpa in High School. I cant focus on anything very long though. Thoughts keeps coming into my head. Sexual thoughts. Anger. I get frustrated and smash calculators against walls. Im pretty good at that I found out. Went through lots of calculators. I cant concentrate on anything very long.

I dropped out of College 3 times. Every time I would cry in frustration trying to do the homework. Its not a learning disability. Its the thoughts that come into my head and keep me distracted. I still cant talk about what I think about, even with you guys. I want to but I cant.

I have no self confidence now, Hell, I never did. I have no balls or leadership skills that I need in my line of work in order to get promoted. Ive been relegated to menial positions because I cant stand up for myself when I need to.

Im about to see the results of a battery of learning/memory tests. I had to give out a lot of information. I brought up the sexual abuse in the psychologists questionaires. Im about to disclose to my parents and see a T for the first time.

All of this could have been avoided if my parents gave me the tools to recognize the danger signs, like being touched, etc.

Better yet, why did they let a 9 yr old boy hang out with a 33 yr old man? Im angry at their failure to protect me still. Im not sure if the anger is misdirected or not.

If my fucking Mom would have been around, maybe she could have asked me, Where are you going? Oh, Im going over to Kims. Maybe then my Mom could have said, I dont think so. Not unless your brother Rick is with you or me or your Dad.

If only..
 
Hauser,

When you tell your story, you tell mine, alot of the details are diffirent yet there is so much the same. Tears come to my eyes when read your story because I remember what it feels like, I remember what the question "why?" feels like. Just know this Hauser, you are not alone anymore!

Hang in there my friend

Darrel
 
Hauser, you have come a long way, and now that you are beginning to heal, allow me to share something you have triggered here. I always was angry at my parents, for not protecting me. As if it was their fault. It was only recently that I realised that I was actually angry at my self for no doing something then, for being so dumb I can never trust my decision and since I dont value myself and my opinions, I lost my self worth. I turned myself into that dog.

SO to regain it all back, I first have to forgive myself, tell my self again and again after each mistake, its not your fault! That way gradually I am getting my self worth back, bit by bit. Since I was so mad at myself every fault of mine became a crime. I did the same with everyone else, letting go of many lovely relationships because I could not forgive.
My parents didn't want to hurt, though they might not know how to love the right way, but they loved me their way, no matter how faulty.
The anger I had at the the abuser I directed it to myself and my parents, since I couldn't say anything to him, as he was so 'loving' and I wanted that love. SO I couldn't afford to annoy him or he would stop loving me.
And when I did say, he left me, so I vowed that next time someone wants that kind of love I would give him that kind of love, because that is the only way love happens. I started looking for abusers. This went on for many years when I was in relationship with a man, he really didn't love me, he just wanted sex. SO when I said no, he started finding all flaws in me, and soon he wasn't even behaving like the friend he was, in the beginning. And then it came to me, I was just looking for a friend. and paid a heavy price for it. This made me afraid to become friend with any one, male or female. but each time I did I ended up being abused.
SO I am wondering what should my next be? My step would be to fill my self with so much love that when I meet someone I dont start doting on them, I would love them BUT not more than me! And that is the shift I am working on.
That way I can be sure I can maintain my boundaries and also my self respect.
ANd I dont know how long will this take, but I know for sure, that this is the only way. Nothing comes above self respect, the respect I give to my self, and self love, the love only I can give to myself, completely and yes unconditionally.
 
Hauser,

In a word, 'Wow!'...

You have already made a great leap in your own Healing Path, by putting to words the horrible things that happened to you. It is never an easy thing, facing the 'Demons' from our Past/Present/Future...
Parents... Another 'Wow!'...
I come from a broken Family. I, too, did not feel safe enough to tell my Mother what had happened to me when I was 9. My (then) StepFather was always SO quick to dish-out reprimands/insults, that I trully believed "I" would be the one who was found at fault, my Perp. 'Innocent'...

Therapy. Dr's. 'Group'. Fuck. I've done them all. It's been four long years now, since the memories returned. In Truth, I don't feel any closer to being 'Healed', though I must be, as I'm still alive.
I'm back in a 'Group', now. For me, this is my last chance/hope.

Don't give up, Hauser! Though my own words may be damning/defeatist, don't give the Bastard the power over your own Life!

You matter!

Whicker
 
hauser ,it's so weird the details of our abuse can be so different but the way we feel about it is the same ,you talk about hating yourself for not fighting or telling ,i did both and here i am in exactly the same place you are ,bottom line is there wasn't a god damn thing we could have done ,go look at a nine year old boy and imagine how easy it would be to get him to do anything ,especialy a lonely insecure boy ,who wants so bad to be grown up ,who craves any attention form older males ,maybe because dad wasn't there or didn't pay attention ,we were the perfect targets for abusers they prowl and hunt for kids who are needing something then they use that to get what they want .hey i gotta say that my first therapy trip today was not what i expected ,i was scared shitless ,but it was good ,she knows so much more about people like us than even we do . i only been here a little while so i know how hard it was for you to put your story out in the open ,but guess what your not bad or screwed up your not even different ,your just like all of us here ,and i think we are much better people than the normal ones out there ,hell the people i know won't give me the time of day let alone listen and respond like people here ,congrats on getting it out .it was the biggest step in my life and good stuff has happened since i did ,we both took our first steps back to who we want to be shadow
 
Hauser,

Can I suggest something that may help you? I really am serious, but when you do it - and I hope you will - take with you someone safe who knows what your problems are.

Go to a department store, find the boys' clothing section and locate the things they have for a 9-10 yo. Look at how small they are; the arms, legs, torso - all so tiny! Look at the decorations - fantasy images, adventure logos, sports slogans and symbols: ALL from the cool world of little boys. Look at how the buttons and zips are fashioned for little fingers. Check out how they are simply made and designed to be washed a million times. This is the world of a 9 yo boy.

This was you Hauser! You were a trusting innocent kid, and like all 9 yo boys there is no way you could have had the resources to respond effectively to the danger facing you. Don't look back at that little kid and judge him from the perspective you have now as an adult. So many of our "why" and "how" questions come from that mistaken way of viewing what happened to us.

Can you think back and remember how you felt? You were relaxing on a bed with a dog, and a man you trusted approached you in a manner that gave you no cause for alarm. Why did you say "Okay" to his suggestions? Simple. Because you were a kid and you trusted him. That is why kids are such easy targets. All of us were like that in those days.

Why did you never disclose to your Dad? You already know and you say it in your post: you were ashamed, afraid and confused. Just as I was when I was 11 and being abused for the first time. Just as almost all the guys on this site were unable to disclose.

Remember also that in the 1980s there was still almost no awareness in either society or in professional circles of how great the danger of the sexual abuse of boys was. Pedophiles were phantoms. My parents NEVER worried if I said I wanted to go spend the day, or even sleep over, at a friend's house. The danger was unknown and no one was on their guard. Sure, we all heard the "stranger danger" warnings - the sleezeball in a trench coat offering us candy if we will get into his car. But as in your case, the danger to boys was almost always from people they knew and trusted, like you trusted Kim.

There is so much more to be said here, but enough from me. I will just close by suggesting that you should hang with us and post and discuss things as and when you can. You will see how common all your issues - including those relating to later life - are among other survivors, and you will soon see that the guilt and shame belong not to you, but to those who hurt you.

I have found that in the early stages recovery is all about regaining our sense of worth and dignity, recognizing that we are lovable and deserve happiness, and believing that abuse was never our fault. A big "stage", I know! But my point is that so far as I can see (yes, I wear glasses), you have your sights on exactly the right issues.

Much love,
Larry
 
Thank you all for your input. I needed to hear that. I will add some more thoughts about not disclosing in another post.
 
That hurt me to read that but it hurt in a good way. It made me become more in touch with my own feelings. I read the phrase of him looking at you shaking his head because you weren't aroused. How can a child be aroused by something so outlandish as that.

I have had debates over whether sexual identity is innate, or if having attraction to the same sex is caused by experiences from being abused. Most people who do proclaim themselves as being homosexuals or bisexual tend to perceive it as a means of being born with it and it not being a choice. I don't know if I agree with that but I do feel strongly that our sexual orientation is drastically affected by our own experiences growing up. Whether it be CSA or the environment we grow up in as a whole, our own sexually, I feel, is not necessarily built in. However, many may feel differently. As if their CSA has brought out the truth about their sexuality. I respect anyone's opinion who begs to differ. However, whatever it is, it is OK to be who you are. The things you go through are who you are. I think that its not just genetics. I respect you and I hope you don't feel ashamed of who you are. Shame is not necessary in this aspect and it is very destructive as you know. Thank you for your post.

Much love,
Jason
 
Reading your story has moved me a great deal. I am very saddend to read how your life has been destroyed. But you have found the strength and the courage to tell us. I take my hat off to you, you are a very strong person.

It is so easy to say "what if....." I do it everyday. Please be strong.

a freind
Duncan
 
Have you been tested for ADD? I know what the wandering thoughts syndrome is. Grew up with it.
Always looking out the window in school, hard to concentrate etc. Then to discover I am also dyslexic 20 years later makes me just sigh.
That's why I laugh a lot - the absurdity of reality.

froggy
 
Thank you for the recent replies to such an old post. Froggy, VERY astute question you asked. I will tell you why.

Just before I came to MS, I injured one of my hands in a fit of rage, I smashed a porcelain jar in my kitchen and injured my right hand badly. I required surgery, I relied on my parents to help me financially whilst I recovered for almost a couple months. In return for their time and support they asked me to do something that they made me also do when I was 14, see a psychologist again. I said "Ok". My Father was convinced that I had Aspergers Syndrome:

https://addsuccess.co.uk/main/Adults_with_Aspergers_Syndrome.asp

Well they wanted to know what was wrong with me (my inability to progress in life) and they were willing to pay cash to a Psychologist that specializes in learning disorders, so I said "Fuck it, they want to know what's wrong with me, here you go:" I described a whole summer of sexual abuse when I was 9yo and told that Psych to tell my parents and how it happened right under their fucking noses and that I'm fucking pissed that they not only left me defenseless, they left me stranded, with their lack of information that responsible parents give their children, ("If someone tries to touch you down here let us know"), they left me trapped. I was trapped because when the REAL worst manifestations of CSA happened to me, I could not talk. I could not talk about it. I was made fun of by my older brother and his friend when I tried to disclose when I was 9 years old. There was no fucking way I was gonna talk about that again after being laughed at. It was terrible that my brother laughed at me for being molested, but I don't blame him, I blame my parents, they sucked, I don't care if they "love" me. They were both very bright and college educated people, and they merely assumed that boys never got perpep! Well, I'm not letting them go on this. They told me that they were sorry, wow, great, I feel so much better now. They fucking failed as parents and now I pay the price with this empty life I'm living. But I digress................

Where was I at? Oh!! Yes, ok so to answer your question I WAS tested for ADD, I was given a huge battery of tests that lasted for an entire day, given by ph.d Psychs. I have no learning disability. They all agreed that my CSA was my problem, my inability to progress in life was based on a couple circumstances that happened to me as a boy, circumstances in which I did a couple of not-so-painful things, circumstances in which I had no physical scars, circumstances in which, all I had to do was not talk about it and I'll be able to blend into society and be just like everyone else. I was so wrong.
 
Dear Alan,

Thanks for sharing your story with me. I could relate to a lot of it. It took me 3 tries to finally finish college. I was 50 years old when I finished. I have been under-employed my entire working career. I advocated for myself and negotiated a $4.00 per hour raise for the first time in my life. I was able to do that by the modelling myself after what my younger son had done with his career. He advocated for himself and was appointed part of the professional training staff at a higher rate than his previous position. It also resulted in his having greater responsibility.

The abuse in my life also took away my self-confidence and left me feeling less than more often than not. If it hadn't been for many years of psychotherapy, 12 Step Programs, the EST Training, the Advocate Experience, and the reading of self-help books, I would not be the person I am today.

As you know, I still struggle with blaming myself for the sexual abuse. Even though I know the perp was a pedophile who was a preditor of my older and younger brothers as well as other young boys in my geographic area, that he probably seduced me in such a way that I was curious about sex between males. I approached him when I was 13 because I wanted to masturbate with him because that is what I thought my older brother and he were doing even though neither of them said anything overtly to me about it. The perp taught me more than about masturbation and I ended up servicing him until I was 19 years old and went away to college. My face is getting numb as I write this so I know this is very difficult stuff. I pray that someday I also can get past it and allow myself to be in a loving, caring, giving and sexual relationship.

I welcome feedback from you and anyone else who wants to give it.

Edj
 
Hi,

Hauser, I believe you when you say you're not gay, and that the problems are from CSA, not ADD. What else can I say? A boy wants attention from anyone who will give it sometimes, especially if he isn't getting much attention at home.
I took more than one try to finish college, and I'm a pretty smart guy, but still deficient in self-esteem. I wish I couldn't relate as much as I do to the feelings you express. My parents didn't protect me when I needed it, either, but it sounds like we're both working through those feelings.

Ed
 
Thank you for your reply.

You just got me thinking. You know what? I have not formally forgiven my parents. I have not formally acknowledged to them that I have been carrying a bitterness inside of me towards them, for being nothing more than naive. They were ignorant, and caught up in their own petty issues. I would have turned out ok I think, if I wasn't perped. They share SOME of the blame, SOME, but not enough to carry this anger and unforgiving spirit within me. I need to let it go.

I'm going to write a letter to them and tell them that I forgive them. Has anyone here done that? I feel that I need to do it. Yes. I'm going to do that very soon.

And even if I still carry some anger, they can at least know that I no longer hold them directly responsible for it. They're no more guilty than my friend Jim who trusts me to be around HIS kids.

Who knows? My parents are 75 and 70. One of them could drop dead any day (it happens) and then it will be too late. Yes, I'm going to do this.
 
Hauser,
Your story touched me deeply. I think I have a very similar situation. I don't know why I never realized that I always thought "why did I let this happen to me?". That's probably a mistake. I realized this when I read your story. It might seem obvious but I just never saw it that way. Too many similarities. We are also very close in age so everything sounds much too familiar.
I hope you are doing well.
Thank you for sharing.
~Raul
 
Alan,

That's a pretty powerful step, but I like the way your attitude about your situation has changed over time. You're a smart guy, and you make a lot of good points. It's okay to still blame your parents, yet forgive them at the same time.

But I have to ask you one thing. Before you write this letter telling them you forgive them, do you truly forgive them?

Even though I know your intentions are good, forgiveness is just something that can't be forced. If you tell your parents that you forgive them if you don't truly forgive them, that could give you reason to beat yourself up later.

Ultimately, it's your decision. I wish you the best.

Bryan
 
Hi again,

You probably see my response on the other post, but I think forgiveness is a good step. No one really deserves it, but your parents don't sound like they were malicious, just far too busy and preoccupied with what was happening in their own lives to protect you (or me) as they should have.
The perps are somewhat harder to forgive, since what they did usually was malicious, but I've done that too. My toughest battle, it seems, has been with myself and taking responsibility for what happened to me (from below age three to early adulthood). Granted, the older the person, the greater the responsibility should be.
Even so, I want to be clear on my part before God. If no one else is, so be it. Not my problem. And it's perfectly okay to be angry with God. Sometimes I wish He didn't allow the human choice that ended up screwing us up. But I'd rather He stay on my side, no matter what, than against me. When I forgive, I'm on His side. Good luck!

Ed
 
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