Pretend You Don't See The Elephant
The Family Secrets And Silence of Christian Science
by
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Silence. My father left the kitchen. More silence. My little brother and I never entertained the thought of running because there was not place to go, now place to hide, no place to be safe. So instead, we just sat there waiting like condemned prisoners for our execution. My father returned with clothesline wrapped around his arm. I watched in horror as he wound the heavy rope around Jon, tying him to the chair from his chest to his ankles. Only his right arm was left free, free to eat those God forsaken brussels sprouts. Jon was told he would remain tied up until every last one of the cold little cabbages was gone. His eyes, wide with fear, began blinking rapidly.
I was to be tied up as well, but not before I was humiliated even further. Grabbing me off the chair, one hand around my neck, my urine soaked clothing was ripped off from the waist down, leaving me half naked, wearing only my soiled shirt and urine soaked shoes. Then I was tied to a chair, my bare bottom sticking to the urine on the wet vinyl. I was commanded to look at him while he continued his vicious verbal tirade, forcing me to make eye contact with the angry eyes of a father gone mad with revenge.
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About the Book
Pretend You Don''''t See The Elephant is a personal memoir about the author''''s life growing up in the 1950s. Throughout the narrative, the elephant represents the silence surrounding familial dysfunctional behavior. Christian Science provided the background of denial in a home where physical, emotional, and verbal abuse ran rampant. The severity of the abuse and the denial of it destroyed the author''''s desire to live and at the age of twelve, she tried to commit suicide. Failing to die, she was exiled to an alcoholic uncle''''s home, barely escaping sexual molestation before being returned home to her parents. The Christian Science religion of her mother was responsible for the refusal of medical attention, leaving her to die after a ruptured appendix.
The author was told every day of her life that she was a failure as a Christian Scientist and her illnesses were her fault. From her father she was told she was so clumsy and ugly that no one would ever marry her. Don''''t talk, don''''t tell was a way of life, and she spent a lifetime living under this code of silence. The effects of Christian Science denial, coupled with the physical and emotion abuse would ride on her shirt tail for the rest of her life. This then is the story of a victim who became victorious.
The memoir continues on as she faces a tragic automobile accident. Accepting medical assistance removed her from the
About the Author
Carol-Ann Medina is a recently retired educator after twenty-one years of serving children and their parents. She was a classroom teacher for eleven years and completed her graduate work in counseling, becoming an elementary school guidance counselor for another ten years. She holds a Bachelor''s Degree in Education and a Master''s Degree in Counseling.
Ms. Medina will tell you that the teaching profession offered her the opportunity of a lifetime in which to touch the hearts and minds of children. To infuse the excitement of learning in the hearts of young people remained a thrill with every year. During her tenure as an educator, she was entrusted with this country''s greatest natural resource, its children. Her smiles, enthusiasm, and integrity reached out to children and parents in ever-widening circles with each passing year. Her life touches everyone around her and her love of teaching is an integral part of who she is.
Ms. Medina''s personal life includes three children and three grandchildren, of whom she is infinitely proud. As a military wife, she and the children moved from coast to coast in support of husband''s and father''s Naval commitments. She is content to remain in one place now. Her early experiences, as a child growing up in the silence of a Christian Science home, predispose her to reach out to others in need. She had gone beyond a handicapping condition to do just that during her life experiences. Way to go, girl!