Wow, no words... this is a very powerful first chapter. I was especially struck by the movement from personal history into the larger point about how easily coercion gets disguised as family. That made the piece feel bigger than memoir while staying deeply personal.
Jamie! Amazing writing you have here. The way youāve reframed your origin story from a passive occurrence to a 'theft' is incredibly powerful. Society often tries to sugarcoat these histories as 'complex family dynamics,' but your insistence on naming it 'reproductive assault' is a profound act of truth-telling. Thank you for making the distinction between survival and consent...this is so important for people to hear! The line about being a 'ghost wrapped in baby skin' stayed with me long after I finished reading. It takes such courage to look back at those first six months of 'loss' and piece together a narrative that was kept from you. I feel so honored to read your story and see the courage within your words. Thank you for sharing this, you have no idea how much this will help others who have similar tales. This is the kind of writing that shows people that they aren't alone in their suffering. I don't know you, but just the same... I am so proud of you.
Thank you! It really was, there is so much more craziness that happened later on. But, at the same time, it was healing and helped me "integrate" memories. In fact, the reason I started questioning the origin story was after therapy and learning to trust myself and my narrative again. My dad gaslit us all. But he doesn't get to finish the story - I do.
That is good to hear I mean I always ask why you know. I am curious what the thought process was or if there wasnāt one other than to control. Anyways, your welcome anytime!
I've examined him as I examined myself in therapy and I think he falls on a cluster B spectrum between NPD/ASPD so needed control and lacked empathy. I wrote a poem about it (he's the 1943 part of this): https://jmeleepharmd.substack.com/p/the-system-trilogy
He grew up in 40's Alabama, Club Foot, Cleft Palate, Trained to be the next coming of Jesus (his town had him preaching at 8)... the book will go into more detail but there's a lot of reasons he turned into him I think.
I am sure it will sadly itās not just one child/person that has a life like this and someone will appreciate your story and publish it I will pray for that because this does need to change moving forward šš¼
That's exactly how I landed on the name of the book: yet another survivors story. Iāve talked to a ton of survivors and while my story is still a bit extreme, child abuse is not at all unusual.
This makes sense actually back then there really wasnāt a real way to diagnose I donāt think and the fact he was preaching at 8 says a lot. I believe this book will be outstanding. Is the book finished?
I finished it about a week ago! Now I'm giving my brain a small break (this was hard to write - hardest thing I've ever done!) - then I'll do another revise/edit session. I am searching for publishers now to see if it hits. My life has been crazy, hopefully the healing work I did can help someone else.
Wow, no words... this is a very powerful first chapter. I was especially struck by the movement from personal history into the larger point about how easily coercion gets disguised as family. That made the piece feel bigger than memoir while staying deeply personal.
Thank you! Iām glad that comes through, later chapters are more systemic critiques of the environment that allowed and created him.
Hey so this is really good!
Thank you! Your story sounds interesting too - living with artistic parents and being a violinist. Music helped heal me in part. :)
Jamie! Amazing writing you have here. The way youāve reframed your origin story from a passive occurrence to a 'theft' is incredibly powerful. Society often tries to sugarcoat these histories as 'complex family dynamics,' but your insistence on naming it 'reproductive assault' is a profound act of truth-telling. Thank you for making the distinction between survival and consent...this is so important for people to hear! The line about being a 'ghost wrapped in baby skin' stayed with me long after I finished reading. It takes such courage to look back at those first six months of 'loss' and piece together a narrative that was kept from you. I feel so honored to read your story and see the courage within your words. Thank you for sharing this, you have no idea how much this will help others who have similar tales. This is the kind of writing that shows people that they aren't alone in their suffering. I don't know you, but just the same... I am so proud of you.
Thank you so much!! You just made me tear up.
You made me tear up too! Someone out there needs your writingā¦ I would venture to say all of us do ā¤ļø
You are very brave and beautifully vulnerable to share this Jamie. It will help a lot of individuals out there. ā¤ļø
It must be hard to write all of this down and relive it in a way. You've got big bravery.ā¤ļøā¤ļø
Thank you! It really was, there is so much more craziness that happened later on. But, at the same time, it was healing and helped me "integrate" memories. In fact, the reason I started questioning the origin story was after therapy and learning to trust myself and my narrative again. My dad gaslit us all. But he doesn't get to finish the story - I do.
Thanks again for reading.
ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø Good for you, Jamie.
Aw this is heartbreaking š
My dad was such a monster. š„²
But he didn't win, I have a good life now
Ty for reading ā„ļøš
That is good to hear I mean I always ask why you know. I am curious what the thought process was or if there wasnāt one other than to control. Anyways, your welcome anytime!
I've examined him as I examined myself in therapy and I think he falls on a cluster B spectrum between NPD/ASPD so needed control and lacked empathy. I wrote a poem about it (he's the 1943 part of this): https://jmeleepharmd.substack.com/p/the-system-trilogy
He grew up in 40's Alabama, Club Foot, Cleft Palate, Trained to be the next coming of Jesus (his town had him preaching at 8)... the book will go into more detail but there's a lot of reasons he turned into him I think.
I am sure it will sadly itās not just one child/person that has a life like this and someone will appreciate your story and publish it I will pray for that because this does need to change moving forward šš¼
That's exactly how I landed on the name of the book: yet another survivors story. Iāve talked to a ton of survivors and while my story is still a bit extreme, child abuse is not at all unusual.
This makes sense actually back then there really wasnāt a real way to diagnose I donāt think and the fact he was preaching at 8 says a lot. I believe this book will be outstanding. Is the book finished?
I finished it about a week ago! Now I'm giving my brain a small break (this was hard to write - hardest thing I've ever done!) - then I'll do another revise/edit session. I am searching for publishers now to see if it hits. My life has been crazy, hopefully the healing work I did can help someone else.