Her Mission in Life

She had fought most of her life
To forget her childhood,
To escape her tortured past,
But it always remained
Just below the surface,
Haunting her every move.
She could never run far enough
Nor fast enough
To get away from the fear,
Or the sense of helpless horror.
It was nearly forty years
Before she was strong enough
To deal with what happened,
To confront the anger she felt.
In the interim it had cost her
Several failed marriages
And countless sleepless nights.
The years of denial
Had not lessened the scars,
But once she faced
And accepted what happened,
It gave her a capacity for compassion
She never knew she had,
As well as a sense of purpose
And a mission in life
To halt the abuse of children.