Well hello there world, my name is Dawn Marie and today is the day that I start the next chapter of my life. For it is today that I have decided to take a deep breath and bare my soul to the world.  For many years now I have been writing a story about my life. It first started as a way to cope with being the victim of childhood sexual abuse but ended up turning into so much more as I continued to write as the years passed by. Now looking back all these years later there are so many memories and moments that I have written down. It is a story that has spanned the better part of the last 4 decades and one I have been writing for the last 20 years.

As I was approaching my 40th birthday this year I vowed to myself to change the way I live the next 40 years of my life. It is time for me to come out of the shadows and be brave enough to let go of all my fears and tell the whole world who I really am. The real me I keep hidden deep down from everybody. The idea of exposing myself to the world is not one I entered into lightly, it has taken me many years to build up the courage to let you all in. So I ask of you, please be kind as I strip away all of my secrets in hope of finding someone out there just like me.

Some of you that know me may be wondering why I am choosing to do this now. Well the answer to that is quite simple. It is time. In the last 18 months of my life so much has changed. I have had my heart broken, buried all of my grandparents and watched from a far as a community I love and hold so dear became engulfed in flames as people I loved were running for their lives. So many friends stranded in so many different directions away from the beast. My mind could barely comprehend the situation for the first few days as friends showed up on my door step to take solace in my home as they coped with the tragedy.

It changed me. Made me stronger.  It all has made me realize that I have had the courage all along to step forward I just didn’t know I did until now. So much of that courage is because of the community of Fort Mcmurray and the people who live there and have lived there. Without them I don’t think I would be the strong woman and mother I am today. I am by no means perfect, I screw up all the time and my story will reveal that fact to you.

True, this is a story of horrible childhood sexual abuse but the story is also about all the crazy beautiful adventures that happened after the abuse and along the way throughout the different stages of my life. Looking back over memories I have seen that there is a lot of darkness and evil and everyday those demons of my past have followed me around but it is because of so many of you that I have met along the way and the strength you have given me that has kept them at bay. For that I thank you.

In order to begin we must go back to a time 40 years ago…………