Reunion Online

When I began to cope with my childhood molestation, the word trigger was a new concept for me.

Intervention or prevention—it’s complicated.

What if I told you I believe I have the key to true happiness and freedom from resentments and anger towards the person who abused you? Then what if I told you that you held the key to that freedom and happiness within YOURSELF? Would you be willing to take a look at the path I discovered to those feelings?

When I think about men who have had those experiences, I’m often reminded how the expectation of invulnerability that most cultures demand of males leaves many men feeling like they mustn’t ever reveal their victimization.

Resilience is a remarkable characteristic we humans possess.

Never in my wildest hopes would I have imagined sitting in a rental car, at the intersection of 45th and Broadway, watching an electronic billboard on the Viacom building announcing “NO MORE that doesn’t happen to guys,” “NO MORE he just needs to get over it,” “NO MORE we don’t talk about that,” and so on…

This Sunday marks our eighth marathon of Law & Order: SVU with USA Network.

We’ve all heard the dismissive refrains—things like “that doesn’t happen to guys,” “what kind of guy would let that happen to him,” or “he seems just fine to me.”

Both Trav and I can say that while child sex abuse will always color our shared life, it will never exclusively define either of us.