Dear Daisy,

 

I am so sorry for the awful thing that you went through and are still going through.  I read something recently that I want to share with you.  It is from Elizabeth Smart, a woman who was kidnapped when she was 15 years old and kept against her will for 9 months. She was raped every day she was in captivity.  Today she is 25, happily married, and has gotten on with her life.  She says that right after she was rescued she got some great advice from her mother.Smart said her mother told her words can't describe what Brian David Mitchell did to her and that he stole nine months of her life that she will never get back. But the best punishment she could give him was to be happy and move forward. And dwelling on the past and holding on to the pain would give him more of her life that he doesn't deserve.
"When my mom said that to me I made the decision that I would never think that way, I was never going to let him get the better of me," Smart said.
I hope that you too will find the strength to move forward.  Do not let this incident, as horrible as it was, define you.  Your rapist will never get out from under the stigma of being a rapist, regardless of whether or not he is prosecuted. You on the other hand, did absolutely nothing wrong.  You did not deserve what happened to you.  Stand strong and know that you can have a great life if you choose to. My best to you and your family and to your friend Paige.

Sincerely,

Paula Wiese