Day Two

Yesterday, my daughter Kelli and I went to see the movie Julie & Julia. It was funny, inspiring, compelling and just down right enjoyable. As I was watching Julie, the young woman who cooked her way through Julia Child's cookbook in a year, and saw how she shared her story with others it made me realize that in order for me to share my story I needed to start somewhere. Not having a lot of experience with blogging, I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, however, maybe if you start reading it and have suggestions of making it better, you can tell me.

This blog is about a lot of different things. It's about intrigue. It's about betrayal. It's about love and about disappointment. It's about Japan culture and Third Culture Kids or TCK's. It's about being totally helpless and hopeless. It's about being as strong as Sampson. It's about all of this and more.

Before I begin my story, however, I need to make several disclaimers and several acknowledgments. Anything I write is not meant to hurt or harm anyone or their family. Whenever possible, I will not expose personal information about anyone else. If you happen to be a part of this story and don't want it to be out, I promise I will not reveal anything about you personally that would cause you harm, however, I plan to tell the truth as I remember it. Because this story began 39 years ago, I can't promise that my memory will be precisely correct, but again, I will do my best to convey my story in a factual and timely basis. If you see some discrepancies in the story, please let me know so I can correct them. If you would like to share your story in this blog, let me know that, too.[Edit: It has now been 45 years since the beginning of my story. 10.29.15]

I must say that I could not have made it through this far without the support of many people. First, my husband, who walked with me through the terror of exposing a child molester and bearing with me the fear, pain and shame of the exposure. Next, my wonderful brothers and sisters, who listened to me as I struggled through the day to day issues. My pastor and friends from church who prayed with me, listened to me, cried with me - I couldn't have made it without you. My friends from high school who supported me through it all. My dear, dear MK cousins whom I love like they are my own blood and encouraged me to tell my story. The other women (I detest the word victim so you won't see it used much if at all) who shared their stories with me. My children who, even though they weren't involved in any of this process, gave me strength and determination to make sure it didn't happen to anyone else. My mom, who finally listened to my struggles before she died and my dad, who finally understood what I needed from him. And last but most certainly not least, my friend and confidant, Michele Connor, to whom I can only say.....Thank you for holding my hand.

© Copyright 2009 Janet Calcote Simmons All rights reserved.