I ventured onto campus yesterday to buy my textbooks. For one of my classes, we have an assignment to read the book A Child Called "It." I read the syllabus for the class and the assignment for this book was due within the next month. I was bored today and decided that I would get a jump start on reading the book. I had NO CLUE what was in store for me.
The author of the book, Dave Pelzer, was abused by his mother as a child. And when I say abused, I mean one of the worst abuse cases that California had ever seen at that point in time. Pelzer's childhood started out normal. His parents were madly in love. He had two brothers and life was great. Then one day, for unknown reasons, his mother snaps and starts abusing him. She never laid a hand on his brothers.
Pelzer was denied food which led him to steal food from his classmates' lunches at school. He was beaten physically and emotionally. The abuse got more severe as time went on. It was so severe that I was close to vomiting, crying, and wanting to beat the hell out of his mother myself. He was basically treated as a Prisoner of War.
After several years of abuse, his 5th grade teacher, principal, and the school nurse put a stop to the abuse and Pelzer was taken away from his home. (What ticks me off is that he was at this same school for several years and showed several signs of abuse.) Pelzer went on to lead a normal life and served 13 years in the Air Force. He is now a speaker and an advocate of child abuse. He was determined that he would not be a victim of past, no matter how dark it was.
There was a quote that really stuck with me:
After years of struggle, my purpose became clear, for above all, I came to realize
that America was truly the land where one could come from less than humble
beginnings, to become a winner from within.
David Pelzer is a true inspiration and God Send to victims of child abuse.
This book is a must read, but I will warn you to have a box of tissues and be prepared to read of unheard of conditions of life.
