Tessa’s Home is an 8 part series running until December 27th. To listen to the audio backgrounder from family radio CHRI, click below.
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Here is Tessa’s story in her own words….
My earliest memories?
I remember we went on a camping trip in a tent trailer when I was three. I remember my brother catching a fish. We put it on the BBQ and it flopped off – we thought it was dead and were about to cook it. It flopped off and went beneath the trailer, and it was so funny.
When we were going to bed, my sister did this thing like kids do, and she cupped her hands, put them behind her knees and made a fart noise. I thought that was hilarious and I couldn’t stop laughing. I thought it was so funny. I remember my dad going “Shut up! Shut up!” but I couldn’t stop laughing. I thought it was so funny. So he picked me up and threw me across the trailer and apparently that’s when I got knocked out. My mom was freaking out and saying we should take her to the hospital, but we ended up all going to sleep.
My dad didn’t think I was his daughter, and often told me so, but I really do look like him. It’s pretty obvious that I’m his kid, but he just never believed it. So I got talked down to a lot. We moved a lot, and I didn’t really have any friends.
I remember when I was nine, I had a friend over to my house (my brother had a pet pigeon and I showed it to her). When we came upstairs my dad was just standing there and he yelled at me for about 20 minutes, calling me a whore, a slut, saying I was sleeping with my neighbor, until I was on the ground, I was so terrified. I threw up all over myself, and he got even madder. I never again had a friend come over ever again.
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