GAZELLE MAGAZINE WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH EDITION | Page 86

WELLNESS & WELL-BEING
BEATRICE COVINGTON, 42
Realtor
I
have had several situations that
happened to me. For several years,
I was molested by my mom’s live-in
boyfriend, from age 9 to about 11. It
was horrible! The smell of him haunted
me in every relationship as a teen and young
woman. I had nightmares and felt isolated.
My first experience happened when I was
in kindergarten, and my mom’s boyfriend, who
was maybe three times her age, molested me.
She trusted that he was just picking me up from
half-day school.
I wrote a children’s book entitled, “Not
Yours, But Mine” after having my fourth
daughter, but never published it out of fear and
shame. I have vowed to get it published this
year. I wrote the book for my daughters and all
the other children with no voice.
I was sexually abused by my first husband.
I was 20; he was 23, and because he was an
alcoholic, he would sexually abuse me. I hated
sex because it didn’t offer intimacy - just a
feeling of worthlessness. When I was about
23, God helped me to recover from all the past
troubles and demons associated with what I
was hiding, and I was finally able to talk to my
mom about it. She was so angry with herself,
and said she had been blind and didn’t know.
I forgave her.
Now I’m free, and I would love to help
others, especially children, become free to
tell their story with no filters. It’s your truth. I
tried to commit suicide at 16. I was miserable,
but God told me to tell the young me to take
care of the older me. Had I not done that,
the younger me could have given up, and the
older me wouldn’t exist. I’m remarried, and
God blessed me with someone who had the
capacity to handle all of me ... the hurt pockets
where present and past meet.
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