...beautifully said, and I hope your recovery is successful....children should never have to witness OR be subjected to abuse....EVER....if talking with myself, or anyone in this Community is therapeutic-then by all means, talk away...I'm an RN, not a Mental Health professional-but I know a little.....It is an incredible thing. I opened a lemonade stand when I was 7 with my cousin up in New York. We worked all day to earn fifty cents a piece after paying our parents back for the lemons and sugar. I bought The Drawing of the Three at a yard sale next door with it. I had no idea who he was but I was so determined to buy something of my own and it was the only thing that caught my eye. I had no idea it was apart of a series and was so confused but it sparked an interest in reading for me. I'm very open about my past but I will spare you the novel; I had a pretty insane childhood and I would read his books just to be terrified of something I knew couldn't hurt me until I was given an old beat up copy of Rose Madder. I actually was wearing a blood stained shirt from a broken nose I received for speaking out of place the month before and I had never been so terrified of his words. The book mirrored my life only my Norman was my father. I found so much solace in the idea of a magical world other than the one I was in that I some how gained hope that the world outside my home was much better, and it is. I'm actually in therapy to bury my dangerous seeds now and I am rebuilding my relationship with my parents. It's incredible the power words have in the right hands.