My mother would torture me for at least eight hours a day for a solid year once, using a variety of ice-water enimas, burning me with matches, burning me with cigarettes, even at one point hanging me up-side down for about six hours, burying me, using me as a float when we were in a ship wreck-- she actually used me as a life preserver, she just wrapped me around herself and didn't care whether I breathed or not, tried to use me one time to stop up a leaky gas valve in our kitchen, just said, 'Put your lips over that thing.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker recounts severe childhood abuse by his mother, describing various extreme tortures and neglect.
- In plain terms
- He describes being tortured by his mother for long periods using water, fire, hanging, and other harms.
- What can you take from it?
- Extreme childhood abuse can leave lasting trauma.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What coping mechanisms help survivors?
- How can society better protect children?
Another view
The graphic detail may be triggering for some readers.
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