I was abused by my older brother from the ages of around 4-9 multiple times. My long term memory is shot because of repression so I don't know the exact ages it happened. I've never told my parents because I didn't realize until I was in high school what had happened was wrong and at that time I was still living at home so I felt like I couldn't say anything. I have never told anyone except for licensed therapists. In my senior year of college he called me to acknowledge it and apologize. I was stunned and shocked because we had never talked about it before. We act like normal siblings but I've always had OCD flare ups and anger management issues around him. We still kept it a secret and now its about 5 years later after the phone call and I am ready to be done. I have a great therapist now and we are working on a plan to tell my parents. I am so scared of this next chapter in my life but I know it needs to happen for me to feel free and to truly feel validated and not alone.

I did it ya'll. I did the hardest thing I've ever done and told my parents what happened. Although they believed me its been a bumpy road watching them navigate this situation. There's no instruction manual and they are working through a lot of pain and shame. Its like watching myself process it. I no longer have a relationship with my brother which is extremely freeing. Now the next journey is figuring out how to tell or navigate around my extended family. We are close and see each other a lot so I need to be able to tell them that I am not speaking to my brother. Like iI said, it's a journey, but I am so happy to be on the other side of this.