Heartbreak House
Heartbreak House
The Life Of Linda Bowers, as told to K. D. Kragen
Forgetmenots
Survivor of sixteen years of abuse, Linda Bowers gives hope and advise to abused and abusers alike. Her story—all too common if not often quite so extreme—is a story both of despair and redemption. Linda Bowers believes help and healing is always available for those who do not give up.
For the abused child or teen, there is help through school teachers and counselors, trusted neighbors, or the police. For either the abuser or the potentially abusive parent or caregiver, there is hope through counseling and therapy or through programs for survivors of childhood abuse.
"Don't give up," Bowers urges those caught in abusive relationships. "Find help."
She tells her story because she wants to awaken the hearts of the abused—and the abusive—with hope. Heartbreak House is a complex story of the tangled web of abuse, violence, and racism across generations. At the same time it is a simple tale of hope.
Bowers is a hero of survival, healing, and change. She broke the cycle of generations of abuse and violence, raising two sons in a safe and loving home with the help of her husband, George. As she puts it: "I was abused but never became an abuser." In this simple fact she finds great strength. Likewise amazed, her counselor once noted, "Linda made her choice, and her choice was to never be like her parents or other abusive people." Together she and George enjoy not only their children but their grandchildren. Bowers could have been satisfied with that accomplishment—a life well lived, being an example of successful parenting—but she has chosen a more courageous path. In telling her story, Linda Bowers has relived her past life of abuse and horror at considerable cost to her. In opening herself to that pain, she has become an example not just to family and friends but to the world.
At the end of this remarkable testament, Bowers calls for our culture to become more child-friendly, to be more aware of the abused or potentially-abused children around us, to have the courage to confront abusers or potential abusers—sometimes just harried parents at wit's end—and to confront those that need help in order to prevent them from falling into the cycle of abusing their children.
As Bowers says, "There are always other children suffering abuse. And what kind of people are we if we fail to protect the children? We don't know what one person can take, how much cruelty and abuse as compared with the next person, before they break beyond the possibility of healing. I took a lot of abuse; thanks to God, and to those who have helped me so much, I have recovered well and changed my life. But another person might not be able to recover from the experience. They may spend the rest of their life in a mental institution or living on the streets dysfunctional, suffering from PTSD, manic-depression, schizophrenia—the walking dead. It is our responsibility, all of us, not close our eyes when we see or suspect child abuse. We must be there for the children."
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Heartbreak House is 452 pages and includes resources, both general and specifically Christian, as well as an Afterward: "Message To Potential Abusing Person."
For the abused child or teen, there is help through school teachers and counselors, trusted neighbors, or the police. For either the abuser or the potentially abusive parent or caregiver, there is hope through counseling and therapy or through programs for survivors of childhood abuse.
"Don't give up," Bowers urges those caught in abusive relationships. "Find help."
She tells her story because she wants to awaken the hearts of the abused—and the abusive—with hope. Heartbreak House is a complex story of the tangled web of abuse, violence, and racism across generations. At the same time it is a simple tale of hope.
Bowers is a hero of survival, healing, and change. She broke the cycle of generations of abuse and violence, raising two sons in a safe and loving home with the help of her husband, George. As she puts it: "I was abused but never became an abuser." In this simple fact she finds great strength. Likewise amazed, her counselor once noted, "Linda made her choice, and her choice was to never be like her parents or other abusive people." Together she and George enjoy not only their children but their grandchildren. Bowers could have been satisfied with that accomplishment—a life well lived, being an example of successful parenting—but she has chosen a more courageous path. In telling her story, Linda Bowers has relived her past life of abuse and horror at considerable cost to her. In opening herself to that pain, she has become an example not just to family and friends but to the world.
At the end of this remarkable testament, Bowers calls for our culture to become more child-friendly, to be more aware of the abused or potentially-abused children around us, to have the courage to confront abusers or potential abusers—sometimes just harried parents at wit's end—and to confront those that need help in order to prevent them from falling into the cycle of abusing their children.
As Bowers says, "There are always other children suffering abuse. And what kind of people are we if we fail to protect the children? We don't know what one person can take, how much cruelty and abuse as compared with the next person, before they break beyond the possibility of healing. I took a lot of abuse; thanks to God, and to those who have helped me so much, I have recovered well and changed my life. But another person might not be able to recover from the experience. They may spend the rest of their life in a mental institution or living on the streets dysfunctional, suffering from PTSD, manic-depression, schizophrenia—the walking dead. It is our responsibility, all of us, not close our eyes when we see or suspect child abuse. We must be there for the children."
_____________
Heartbreak House is 452 pages and includes resources, both general and specifically Christian, as well as an Afterward: "Message To Potential Abusing Person."
