My domestic abuse story

(trigger warning: mentions of abusive actions, edited by @AveryLove)

Hi! I'm Emirson!

I'm on a bunch of support teams, I mention that sometimes. I'm a varsity basketball player, I talk about that a lot.

But what I don't usually talk about and what very few people know, is that I was abused as a child, ended up in foster care for that exact reason, and was diagnosed with PTSD because of it. So I wanted to share that story with the community.

My biological parents were high school students when they had me. Now, I have no right to judge them for that whatsoever, because I don't know all the circumstances, but what I do know is that it was not my fault. However, growing up, I ended believing that it was. My parents moved in together but they were clearly not happy. A lot of times I would hear screaming and arguing from their bedroom. A lot of times my mom would beat me up out of frustration with the whole situation, and my dad would either watch and do nothing about it or get out of the room. I would come to school with bruises and have to come up with an excuse how it happened - fell off a slide, a fight with my sister, tripped on the stairs, slipped in the bathroom, etc. My dad would often ignore me or say "go ask your mom and leave me alone!" One time in first grade when I had an anxiety attack during a reading test and failed it, I remember my mom beating me with a belt, calling me a dumb, useless pig and saying she wishes I was never born - and she never said she takes those words back. Me being a young kid, I didn't understand it. And I would always think, "Oh gosh, what did I do?" One time, my parents got drunk, got into a big fight with each other, and the neighbors heard and called the police. And that started the whole process of getting me out of there and admitting me to foster care for a while.

Fast forward several years... I was taken in by my guardians who I'm very much grateful to, and even though it's a way better situation than being blamed for your existence, it's still far from perfect, because my guardians are planning to divorce as well.

The only lesson I can possibly take away from it all is that being a parent is a huge responsibility, and I have to be extra careful going into marriage.