I have been asked by a few people of late as to my motivation for writing this book.The answer is twofold. I had to find a way to deal with my demons, which even after all these years, seemed so reluctant to leave. Secondly and I believe just as important, was to reach out to others. It’s easy to think that you are alone in your pain I know I did. You convince yourself, that you’re the only person in the world this could ever have happened to. That in some manner you’re a bad person, only receiving what you are due. My dearest hope, that this book goes some way to dispelling that misconception. I also hope that in sharing my story, people with similar experiences may find some peace within its pages and courage to heal. I would like to think that my book somehow imparts to others, the hope it gave me on its conclusion. I still struggle to find some kind of insight as how to heal the child within me. But it’s long past time that I did so she has suffered enough.
Teresa Joyce was born on the 15th December 1958 the middle child of three. After losing her father at a very young age; this was to set the pattern for the rest of her life. Losing was something she would have to get used to. Today she still has some memory of her father, but in truth it’s all a little hazy. Her mother through no fault of her own after that loss had no other alternative, other than to return to her parent’s home with her children in tow. This family unit were to spend only a few years there, until the wind of change came around once more. Her mother was set to meet the man that was to become her stepfather, and they moved once more to a new city with the promise of a new life. Hopefully it would be a happy one for all concerned, but it became a place for Teresa that felt far more like a prison. One in which she would spend many years months days and hours hating. She swore to herself that she would leave all this behind at the first possible occasion.