***** STOP. STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING. READ THIS. NOW. I've been imploring a friend to share her story. She just did and gave me permission to share.

She is a giving and gifted artist.

"Hope your feeling better today and that your energy is returning to you!

A friend of mine told me that I should tell you my story of unconditional love. She thought it would further inspire you. So here it goes....

My father was a evil man , he physically and sexually abused me beyond imagination . I was passed around to his friends like a party favor. He was paid well for me even at the age of 5 ... When I was 12 I had a baby beaten from my body that he then killed and took away. It was his child.

I left home at 14. When I was thirty I was called by my family and my mother was on her death bed.. I cared for her , giving her sponge baths and singing to her.. With her last words she told me she never loved me and that God would never recognize my existence . I held her as she died and forgave her , I prayed for her.

Soon after my father took ill with lung cancer... I took care of him until he died and forgave him on his death bed while he was in my arms.

The year I took care of him was one of the hardest years of my life... I asked him everyday why. I never got an answer till the last day ... He simply said , because I could .

When I told him as he died that I forgave him and loved him , he asked why... I said because I could.


That is unconditional love . To love in the face of hate. No matter the pain caused to you ...

I wear the scared body they left me .. Imprints of a hammer on my skull .. Deformations in my back from the cage. Brittle bone from childhood malnutrition ... Burn marks and frontal lobe atrophy from the extreme abuse. Yet I forgave , I loved.

 Unconditional ... I know the word all tooo well , I live it ! You may share this if you do not share my name."

Post Script:

I asked my friend: Does this quote from Eve Ensler, relate to you? "The only salvation is Kindness." Does that relate to you? 

My friend's reply: 

"Love is salvation and my reason to keep moving, breathing , and understanding other people ! It's what I hold highest in my life... I was raised to know never to put value in things .. Things come and go and are meaningless .. But the living are the only value of spirit and love! ( thank you grandmother !) I understand every ones pain is relevant.. Your experience of suffering is as valid as mine. I am sorry you endured it!"