Angel

Angel grew up in a small town on the outskirts of Willamina. During her childhood you would think that she lived a normal life. She lived with her Mother and Father until she was about two years old, when her parents divorced. When Angel was four years old her mother remarried bring the American dream to the family once again. School years were difficult for Angel, she attended Willamina elementary and grade school, and then went to the high school part time and was also home-schooled. She was extremely talented in music, but was finding it hard to stay in school. She started attending a private school and began singing at Sheridan high school. It was here that I met Angel, our senior year in high school.

Angel was highly energetic, full of life and very extroverted, when describing us one might say we were opposite. We sang in different sections of the choir and had very few interactions. Then one day the teacher decided to move the sections around and Angel and I were standing next to each other, hardly any words were passed between us for a couple of days. Then one day we were standing outside waiting for our rides, and we began talking realizing we had more in common with each other than we thought. A couple months later we were standing outside and she looked up and said, “If I tell you something will you promise not to tell anyone?” It was then that I learned she was being sexually abused by her stepfather; her American dream had been shattered when she was just four years old. Angel told me that her life was a life of the unexpected, “I never knew when it was going to be up or down. I was told that if I would tell I would be punished and I thought that a foster home would be worse than the home that I was in.”

The abuse continued for 13 years until that November, when she had the courage to tell what had happened to her. She had tried to tell a few years earlier, but was told that she was making it all up, which is a common response to children that telling on a family member or a trusted member of the community (Cool Nurse, 2007). When she was telling me about her abuse she was more concerned about the foster children that lived with her parents then her own wellbeing. Angel is my hero, because she had the courage to tell. She was more concerned about the foster children than herself, and was able to see that they needed a better environment then they were in. Angel told me that getting out was, “the best birthday present I had ever gotten.” Angel now lived with a family that she said, showed her what it was like to be loved, and to showed love unconditionally. Angel knew the aftereffects of being abused and went on to use that for good. She worked for Royal Family Kids Camp, helping with music and was also a cabin Mom. “Working for Royal Family Kids Camp helped me heal, it made me look past my own problems and see that everything works out for the best.”

Although Angel is still working though abuse issues, she is making her dreams come alive slowly, but surely. When she can, Angel takes classes from a community college and an Oregon university, continuing her passion for music. Although you may not look at her and think that she is your typical hero, Angel is my hero. She survived, she has helped other children, and she is looking forward to her new life.

Angel, S., personal communication October 4, 2007

Cool Nurse. Retrieved October 8, 2007, from http://www.coolnurse.com/sexual_abuse.htm

Royal Family Kids Camp. Retrieved October 8, 2007, from http://www.rfkc.org/

Oregon Department of Human Services. Retrieved October 8, 2007, from http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/