To my younger self

To the girl who was brought into this world unwanted

The girl who was abandoned by her mother for 8 years

The girl who had her world turned upside down at the age of 9

The girl who went from an emotionless house to an angry one

To the girl that never felt love from her parents

The girl who would hide in her closet to cry in silence

The girl who wore sweaters all year round to hide the bruises

Who lashed out in anger at school for being bullied

The one who went hungry because food was restricted

The girl who shaved her head because she was tired of taking cold showers

The girl who wore wet clothes in the winter because the dryer was off limits

The girl who was beaten because her mother couldn't control her emotions

To the girl who tried her best but still managed to always fail

The girl who could never make friends because she switched schools every year

The one who slept on the floor because she wasn't given a bed

To the girl who never celebrated her birthday because everyone would forget

The girl who ran away time after time only to find herself back home with a belt to the face

Who wished for death at such a young age

The girl who hid her hurt with laughter too afraid people would know she was suffering

To the girl who struggled emotionally because she was never comforted

The girl who never wanted children afraid she'd screw them up the way her parents did

The girl who attempted suicide multiple times due to her home life only to be sent back to be tortured over and over again

To the girl who fell for men who treated her poorly because she believed it's what she deserved

The girl who drowned herself in alcohol trying to escape the pain of reality

The girl who went down a path of destruction hoping to find an end to her life

To the girl who was told she was unlovable and didn't deserve to be alive

The girl who learned to lie just to protect herself from humiliation

The girl who had an eating disorder because she was taught that women who are fat aren't worth anything

The girl who had her joy taken when she discovered writing was her passion but was told she was average and would never make it in journalism

To the girl who so desperately wanted to fit in but still always managed to stand out for all the wrong reasons

The girl who wished to be a bird and fly away from this world

We made it my pretty girl

We struggled and fought our battles

We tried to give up time and time again but we learned to fight back

We quit looking for acceptance from others and decided accepting ourselves was all that mattered

We became a mother and broke the cycle of abuse

We learned to love our children the way we wanted to be loved by our parents

We quit believing lies and learned to trust that there are good people in this world

We stopped closing ourselves off to the ones that actually care about us

We learned that our parents failures did not define us and we are our own person

The biggest thing we managed to do was learn to love ourselves

I love you sweet girl, life is still hard at times and we are still learning how to find happiness but we've come so far we cannot give up now. Our path has been rocky but we're paving it so our children can walk in life a little easier.