LOL...It's a peeve here too lol
I have to say I never had it as hard as some here...but you're right everyone has hard times in different ways. I too worry about the cycle of abuse.
We did have CPS called on my mom (by her own family) but they did nothing I'll never know why. They didn't even ask us kids. It broke my heart as a kid to think I was "this close" to being rescued....now I wonder what I was saved from by being left at home....
I just cannot imagine not having somewhere to turn for food. And I am so greatful that we have WIC (at least here in my state). If a stranger asked me for food, I wouldn't turn them down no matter what. I wish I could have run in to you back then....but I was probably only 5 at the time.
You know the saying "beat you until you won't be able sit down for a week..."....yeah....that's possible. The sick part of it all, is that she always stayed right on the border of what could be considered neglect or abuse....if she had gone even an inch further I would have had the determination to move. All my neighbors were family....all saw what was happening and all did nothing. I've had one aunt cry and beg me for forgiveness and says she still lives in fear of judgement day when God will ask what she did to help us.
In those days, it was pretty commonplace to get beat regularly...and she didn't ever know how severe and far reaching the abuse was.
As an adult, I have taken my sister from the neglect (phys abuse stopped after I left) and emotional abuse. My mom hates it, but fears if she tries to get her back, I'll win in a court battle. I wish everyone else could have seen how cowardly my mom truly was....maybe something could have changed.
Here is an obituary that fits my family...
Newsvine - Obituaries: Dolores Aguilar
And, with as horrific childhood as we've all had, as grownups we've chosen a different path...so in my mind that's no excuse. You are justified in being angry that he wouldn't change himself at the opportunities he had to change. Bad childhood is no excuse to keep the cycle going. At some point you either choose to care enough to stop it or avoid it....or you decide your needs/issues are more important and you do nothing. A bad upbringing can set an instinct, but it doesn't absolve us of our free will.