Please Believe Me: Finding My Voice and Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse

All She Ever Wanted Was to Believe She Was Loved When she quietly confronted her father asking him to stop sexually abusing her as a little girl, she got this tirade from her father: No one cares what I do to you. I don’t love you, no one loves you, and no one will EVER love you. How does a little girl ever heal from this? Compounding the pain of this horrific, inhumane message and the sexual abuse starting when she was eight years old was having a mother who was emotionally vacant. Shirley Aumack never received any affection from her, never heard the words, I love you or any such affirming messages. She never attempted to tell her mother about the abuse and never found anyone to confide in who would believe her. It is common for people who have endured such hellish abuse to overcompensate their feelings of low self-worth by excelling at everything they do. And Shirley is no exception. Throughout her life, she has excelled at everything–academically, professionally, personally as a mother, wife, friend, and in every role she has impressively had love as her guiding force. Lois Einhorn, PhD, author of Forgiveness and Child Abuse: Would YOU Forgive? writes about PLEASE BELIEVE ME: Shirley is a gifted storyteller making the book a quick read. But her messages will stay with me for a very long time. She covers unflinchingly details of her life including her despair and devastation. But her book is not only of surviving but also of thriving. In addition to horrifying images, she includes laugh-out-loud stories. Ultimately this book is inspiring and empowering, hopeful and healing. Shirley’s life serves as a testament to the preciousness of all life, the transformative power of love, the triumph of the human spirit, and the need for humor.