Our Stories

[i-m-Bri]

My words hung in the air, a cement balloon, floating against the possible, everyday, up against reason.
I waited for her to grab it’s tether and haul it in.
She waited for it to drift off.
“Mom, I didn’t run away, I was kidnapped”
She raced straight to the end “but you got away”
Why would she have done differently then she had so many years ago?

My therapist reminded me that telling a story requires the person telling and a person capable of hearing.
Our stories deserve to be heard.
But we can’t expect most people to be able to hear them.
Our stories are sacred, and deserve to be cradled and delivered to only those who will hear them.
We’ve been through enough.
We don’t need their doubt, denial or confusion.
We need to be heard.
But we need to speak it only to those who can hear.
My mother was never that person.
I knew that.
But, there are many in my life who can hear, you guys, my therapist, husband, trainer and a handful of friends.
But most importantly I can hear it now.

 

[C. E.]

Beautifully said, Bri, and so very true.

Remember that often times hearing is not an event but a process. I have heard many things that have taken me days, weeks, months and even years to understand. You've done what you must. Be proud.

 

[Esterio]

Hi Bri

Most importantly you can hear it now. That seem to hit the nail on the head for me Bri.
Thanks for sharing this time with your Mom.

Take care
Esterio

 

[Ceremony]

I'm grateful to be here to read that Bri. There's a clarity which sees the humanity of these situations, coupled with your history and the present. Inseparable, but accepted in that way you've shared, is how I see my future. I hope it's the near future. There's certainly enough pain, so leveling the scale of life to some acceptance it happened, looks good to me. I think about that acceptance and say the words in my head. There's the voice of doubt, but it's not dominating me right now, and I'm grateful for that too.

 

[i-m-Bri]

She heard what I said. She knows the truth. She always knew it was bad, but now she knows more. Her story of me glosses over my first 24 years and inflates my successes. As a mother she has many failing, but her ability to be proud shines. We are all just so human. I love there, where we meet.

Eirik,

hearing is not an event but a process

Those words are so wise. And she did hear me. You are right, I have no idea, nor right to judge, what she do with it.


Esterio,
The awful truth is just that. Not secret, not a shame, just a part of my story.

Ceremony,
I am so happy you can see a more balanced future.