News I Never Saw Coming

My Calendar from March 1998- not only was I keeping my secrets locked away in a diary but also documenting them on my Labrador Retriever Calendar. Every Tuesday I had a math tutor come over but on March 31st my mother canceled her because the day before my sister and I told her our secret.

On March 28th, 1998  it was a Saturday night I was in 6th grade having a sleepover with my best friend Emily who was in 5th grade. We videotaped ourselves all night talking about our hobbies, school, friends, etc. We then decided to create our own news show.  I have come a long way from being 13 years old and speaking in front of a camera. You wouldn’t be able to tell by the way I come across in this video the true horror I am carrying and the terrible things that happened two weeks earlier. I learned to push it down and keep it a secret. I also had no clue that the next day I would hear the news I never saw coming when my sister blurted out to Emily and I that our cousin was gross. That day, as I just described in a radio interview tonight with Jon Leiberman Correspondent for America’s Most Wanted, is crystal clear in my mind and one I will never forget. The guilt and anger that consumed me immediately that would take years to let go of. Thirteen years later after creating a video of made up news stories like a yellow lab saving the day is now spent doing interviews on the horrors that were still secrets in this video and how to protect children and give them the voice I did not yet have in this video.  Be grateful for each day for you never know how your life can change in an instant and never be the same again.