Years Of Abuse Led To Murder

Dear Ann Landers: I am writing this letter from prison. My wonderful and supportive wife sends me your columns regularly. They help keep me in touch with the rest of the world. Whenever I read a letter in your column about molestation, it’s always young girls who are the victims. I would like to speak for boys who have been molested, since I was one of them.

Back in the early ‘60s, when I was 10 years old, my mother helped get her brother released from a mental hospital. She let him move into a trailer right next to our house. My mother was thrilled to have her brother back in her life and made sure he spent time with us as much as possible.

We had no father figure in our lives and adored and trusted this uncle. But along with his kindness and love, there was a lot of brutality. He raped me and my four brothers repeatedly. My mother, my uncle’s wife and several other relatives knew about this abuse, but they did nothing. I can never forgive them for being so afraid of what the neighbors might think that they allowed our lives to be ruined.

When I was 24, I killed a man and was sentenced to life in prison. My state of mind at the time was definitely unbalanced. I actually believed the man I killed was my uncle, and I thought I was acting in self-defense. I’ve been here for more than 16 years, and my case is on appeal. I am hoping my psychiatrist’s testimony will be heard this time. My mother, meanwhile, has told me she hopes I will rot in prison for ruining the family name by telling my story publicly.

I am 42 now, and my struggle for justice goes on. Please tell your readers that young girls aren’t the only ones who are being molested and the consequences can be fatal. - Also a Victim in Pittsburgh

Dear Pittsburgh: You have written a letter that will educate millions of people today. I don’t know enough about the details of your case to comment. However, temporary insanity can be a valid defense. Your history of sexual abuse may fit the picture.

Dear Ann Landers: This is for my wonderful wife, Kathy. If you put this in your column, I’ll make sure she sees it. I also hope you will print it for other couples who see their marriages the way we do. We can’t be the only opposites that attract. - Del in Milford, Mich.

Dear Del: Your free verse is going to hit an awful lot of couples right in the heart. Thank you for sending it on.

Me and Her

She is compulsive. I am impulsive.

She likes it hot. I like it cold.

She is neat. I’m a slob.

Andy Rooney says, “A’s marry Z’s.”

But we are in different alphabets.

I push. She pulls.

She says, “Up.” I say, “Down.”

She is night.

I am day. Living together is hard.

Living without her would be impossible.

Gem of the Day (Credit Alison Lurie, “The Language of Clothes”): Even when we say nothing, our clothes are talking noisily - telling who we are, where we come from, our level of sophistication and a multitude of other things of which we are not aware.

xxxx