Feelings Are Real Don't Hide Them

My father died unexpectedly when I was 14. We moved to live close to my grandparents. A year later a friend from my old school called and told me he would be in Chicago and maybe we could catch up. My mom said ok and when he arrived in Chicago we went to the hotel where he was staying with his parents. I went from nervous to scared to uncontrollable. All of a sudden my father's death hit me.

I learned a lesson that day. Your feelings are always there, sometimes hidden. I went on to become a therapist focused on teens. And that's where I went wrong. I had a young woman, a girl really, who had been sexually assaulted, r**ed but we aren't supposed to use that word. I got attached, and I made the wrong move. I got involved, another word we are supposed to use. I screwed the girl.

I'm not practicing any more, I work as a customer rep for a utility. With a record. After I served 5 in the correctional facility. That's the words we are supposed to use. The slammer, jail, prison, the gated community. Not fun.

What I did was wrong. I don't want to bury the guilt. It's not good for the soul.