I can honestly say that there was no nurturing at all. I mean, we were fed. We were well clothed. The neglect was love. I can never ever remember being told 'I love you' as a little kid. I have no memories of sitting on my parents' lap, snuggling. I have no memories of my mother ever reading to me. I don't remember ever, ever being hugged.

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My mother didn't have any other options. But to be able to educate women now that there are options - damn it, I am going to work my hardest so that there aren't kids that go through what I went through, and grow up with so little self worth.

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(Child abuse) is something that's not talked about. It's the dirty little secret. There is the immediate damage, but there is also the damage that it does down the road. It's the baggage that you carry. It's not here and today, it's tomorrow.

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