photo by Carrie Beth Photography, Fairbanks, AK
I have never been in a wedding before. When my best friend asked me to be her maid-of-honor, I gleefully accepted.
My friend is exceptional. We grew up together in one of America’s most vicious cults, Sam Fife’s Move of God. I wrote about my childhood in my memoir, “Cult Child.”
She ran away when she was eighteen. Then, she took her parents to court and rescued her little brother, who lives with Down’s Syndrome, away from the abusive environment. The cult believes DS to be demon possession. I may go into this in a later post. Needless to say, she fought hard, and she won.
When she gained custody of her brother, he was non-verbal. He had severe OCD. He would randomly lose his faculties. He choked down food, afraid to not get any, having been starved for many years. Now, he has his own apartment in her home. He can say words. He uses sign language. He says “I love you.” He is a wonderful man with a gentle spirit who adores his Lego’s.
On September 2, 2022, he walked his older sister, my dear friend, down the aisle, and we all looked on with pride and deep love.
photo by Carrie Beth Photography, Fairbanks, AK
We had a wonderful time at the reception, ate good food and got silly after a few glasses of wine.
photos by Vennie Kocsis
There is a life to be attained after suffering. There is love waiting, and growth and realness. Beyond the pain, life does await, and my heart bursts with happiness for my friend. Now, I get to say I’ve been in a wedding! That’s cool.
Being back in a place which holds a lot of gut wrenching memories was bittersweet. I was happy to have joy around to blow away occasional realizations of returning to that area. Not a day goes by that I do not think of the children still on the compounds far back in the woods beyond Delta Junction.
I soaked in the flowers and sat in the glow of a night sky that never quite arrived.
photos by Vennie Kocsis
🙌🏻Please help me protect children
This petition to End Child Abuse and Neglect is my deepest passion. I would be appreciative if you read it and if you agree, to sign and share it. At 100,000 signatures I can present this to our Congress.
https://www.change.org/p/end-child-abuse-and-neglect-in-america
