“Being in a state of denial is auniversally human response tosituations which threaten tooverwhelm. People who were abusedas children sometimes carry theirdenial like precious cargo without aport of...”

“I spent most of my life believing lwas crazy because all the crazy things I experienced in childhood were treated as nonexistent or normal. This belief colored every decision made, from something s...”

“I've been depressed all day. I feel like such a fraud. People say how special and wonderful I am. I think,"Can't they tell? "Nita, September 18, 1984”

“The reality is, no matter what you were told, whatever happened to you as a child was not legally or morally your fault. Abused children are instilled with guilt regarding their "participation." It...”

“We say, "It wasn't that bad. It was all my fault. Im making all this stuff up. "All my life, I spoke bitterly of my mother's treatment of me as a child.Friends asked, What did she do to you? I coul...”

“Nita: I think I overdid the vulnerability stuff in this last letter. and thats why Im having an anxiety attack.Howard: With the vulnerability comes the possibility that youll be betrayed. Now that ...”

“I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me li...”

“I've got about ten things to say to you right now. But at least nine of them would make me sound like a psycho.In spite of the seriousness of the situation, I nearly smiled. Whats the tenth thing? ...”

“A truly happy woman drives some men and almost every other woman absolutely crazy”

“You can't live in dread of something for long without beginning to crave it.”

“Only the cruelest hunters set their traps with terror and trepidation.”

“Thin ribbons of fear snake bluely through you like a system of rivers. We need a cloudburst or soothing landscape fast, to still this panic. Maybe a field of dracaena, or a vast stand of sugar pine...”

“We all have faced fearful times.”

“Begin a new life today without any fear! Let's go over it together.”