My father was a nice man, and you could tell that he loved his family. Even though he wasn’t mean all the time, he had an extremely bad temper mixed with severe anger problems. As a child, I never really knew how my actions would make him react and I often walked on eggshells. His anger and rage were often like a minefield and I never knew when he was going to explode, so I spent a significant amount of time in my bedroom with the door locked. (Picture Credit: Google – Memegenerator.net)

I can recall one specific time when I had gone swimming with a friend of mine, and I don’t think I told him where I was going. This was before parents sent their children with phones, so he didn’t have any way to get in contact with me. When my friend’s mom brought me home, I remember my mom was so relieved to see me, because she was so worried. My dad, on the other hand, was beyond pissed and you could tell because he was redder than red. He yelled at me and told me to go to my room, so I did as he demanded. Now I understand that he was angry and was probably worried, but I didn’t fully understand how upset he was until he came into my room.

All I can remember was him yelling at me, telling me how stupid I was, and reminding me how lucky I was that I was a girl otherwise he would’ve beat me like I was a boy. I was crying hysterically when suddenly he punched me in my face. He hit me so hard that I fell backwards and hit the back of my head on my dresser. I remember screaming for my mom and she came rushing in the room, to my aid. My dad just left the room unmoved by what he had done. Later we discovered that I had a huge bruise/scar on my face, and I was bleeding from this huge cut on my head.

This was only one of many instances where my father was physically abusive, and he was also extremely verbally abusive. I vowed that when I became a parent, I would NEVER put my child(ren) through such demeaning and inhumane treatment. While these experiences were traumatic at the time, I’ve been able to grow beyond it and I’ve become a more compassionate and loving parent because of it. Now that I’m a parent, I refuse to sit back and let any type of abuse happen to my son, my future children, or any other child – regardless if they’re my child or not.