Nearly four years ago, Eugenia was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Eugenia made the choice to be positive. A choice few can make.
Upon hearing the diagnosis, Eugenia returned home, stared at the wall, and started writing. The result, a book of poetry Like Falling Through a Cloud. It follows her journey through her gradual cognitive impairment and memory loss. Writing has helped Eugenia process the emotions that she has been dealing with since the beginning of her diagnosis.
Her Podcast Helps Women Find Comfort in “Life After…” Moments When hardship occurs — be it a divorce, a loss of a loved one, an unexpected layoff at work, or something else — it can be difficult to find joy again. But Girl Scout alum Sylvia Beckerman, 70, is one woman...
This week I’m Sylvia and I’m ‘Me’. Two years ago I spoke to an extraordinary woman. Since then, I’ve spoken to over 100 women. 100 ordinary women doing extraordinary things. I didn’t set out with a specific goal in mind. But it turned out that as smart as I may have thought I am, I learned something new and different from each of these women.
Pam is the New York Times bestselling author of The Woman With The Blue Star, The Lost Girls of Paris, The Orphan’s Tale, The Kommandant’s Girl, The Diplomat’s Wife, The Ambassador’s Daughter, The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, The Winter Guest, The Things We Cherished, Almost Home, and A Hidden Affair. She also authored a short story in the anthology Grand Central: Original Postwar Stories of Love and Reunion.
Life with My Idiot Family: A True Story of Survival, Courage & Justice over Childhood Sexual Abuse, Kathy Picard’s story. 10 years of abuse by her stepfather.
The Abuse and Staying Silent
The abuse started when Kathy was 7 and lasted for 10 years. The grooming for the abuse took place at around the age of 5. Her abuser and rapist was her step-father, a person who she had been raised to believe was her father. He told her real bad things would happen if she told. At the age of 9 she told her grandmother who said’ we don’t talk about those things.’ And at the age of 28 she told her Aunt Judy who believed her but didn’t want to talk about it. Kathy promised her she wouldn’t until her Aunt died. Upon her Aunt Judy’s death, Kathy told everyone. Kathy wanted to make sure that if anything happened to her, he would be the first one they would look to.
The stats are staggering:
1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys are sexually abused
The average age of abuse is 12
Average disclosure age is 44
And the average years before disclosure is 32
The statute of limitations for criminal proceedings is 43
The statute of limitations for civil proceedings is 53 thank to Kathy. It had been 21 up until her fight to get it changed.
The day after the civil statute of limitations changed from 21 to 53, by a unanimous vote, Kathy, who was 53, filed charges against her stepfather. In 2015 Kathy won her civil suit. She had the courage to call him a rapist to his face in the courtroom. Kathy is now on a mission to educate children that it’s okay to tell someone and keep telling until someone listens. And to educate police departments on talking to children who have been abused. Teachers and parents, friends and family all need to listen.
Kathy Picard is an inspiring award-winning advocate. Advocating for the prevention of childhood sexual abuse. Her work centers on increasing awareness of the harsh realities of sexual child abuse. She is a survivor, public speaker and public safety trainer. Kathy won an Unsung Heroin Award, the William Pynchon Award and the Zonta International’s Founder Day Award. All for her work and advocacy in the successful reform of the Massachusetts Statute of Limitations laws regarding sex crimes against children.
A very candid conversation with Kathy:
The start of the abuse
Telling her grandmother
Not speaking out
Finally breaking the silence
Answering those who said ‘Why now? It was such a long time ago. Can’t you just let it go?’
2002 the event that encouraged her
1-800 lawyer
The fight for justice and the change in the statute of limitations
Her day in court and finally saying the words to her abuser’s face ‘rapist’
Justice for that little girl
Her advocacy work
