Although there were a lot of normal and good things about my childhood, I hesitate to say my life was "normal". My life was shadowed by several predominant circumstances which shaped my early responses to the world and wrote the scripts that consciously and unconsciously dwelled in my daily thoughts.

My world was interwoven with frequent migraine headaches, insecurity, anxiety, sexual victimization, and the slow effect of my father's growing alcoholism. It is not my intention to paint a horrific picture of daily or continual abuse and molestation.

I was not a victim of continual abuse, nor was I constantly exposed to molestation. This however is one reason I share my story. Like me, there are many who live (or have lived) in "normal" circumstances and suffer in silence regarding the crimes made against them.

By age 14, the weight of the world crushed down upon me, and I walked into the arms of imprisonment - an imprisonment that could have lasted a lifetime. It was at this time that I willingly, yet unknowingly, compromised myself thinking I had control.

But soon, the imprisoning walls of the world I had chosen would take control of me. This is a true story of my childhood, written to make a difference and help victims and survivors know they can conquer.

Sound effects are used at significant moments throughout the audio and to separate each entry of the Diary of Memories chapter. Names in the book have been changed including the author/narrator.