Hi! Everyone,

Just seeing someones story up for everyone to view on another site gave me the courage to write a bit about my story.

My family moved into Fair Haven Section in Connecticut, USA when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I remember when Clinton Ave. Park in Fair Haven was not there. It was just a field of mud when it rained. At the opening park ceremony they had a big celebration with lots of free food. It was great.

Moving into our house was not so great. We had lots of opposition from some people in the neighborhood who did not want any minority group to move in.

I remember when we moved in there was a snake on our living room floor. Also people came and broke some of the windows. I started Clinton Ave. School and for quite some time I would be chased home from school just about every day. Many times I would have rocks thrown at me. The father of one of the girls on the block wrote a note saying she and I could not play together. Many bad things happened. Thank God people do not have to experience quite the same prejudice anymore.

When I was seven my mother died. My father worked 3 jobs and was almost never home. My mother left a huge hospital bill that he had to pay. My oldest sister was over seven years older than me. She was attacked in our home by a drunken man who broke into our house. I witnessed the attack because my sisters and I all slept in the same room. I tried to run to our only phone which was downstairs in the living room. He started to hit her and told her to tell me not to go. He beat her and raped her right in front of us. As a result of the rape my sister became pregnant. My sister was forced to marry the man who molested her. He was 12 years older than her. He moved her to another state and I did not have any contact with her until many many years later. Many years later she told me she got tired of him beating her. When he fell asleep one night she hit him over the head with a log and took off. He did not die. He in fact came back a few years later and tried to rape me, but God was with me