Rose pours a cup of tea, places the Lemon biscuit’s onto a saucer and sits down to chat. The mid day sun reflects off her
glasses as her eyes sparkle and her face lights up.

“It was my birthday last week, 81” Rose says. “it's just a number really”.….”there’s so much to look forward to.”

“You know I grew up in a very different Ireland, we were taught to bury our feelings. So it was easy for me to hide what
had happened to me in those days, keeping quiet and out of the way was normal.

But to tell you the Gods honest truth I don’t remember too much from my early years, mostly just memories of what happened to
me, it robbed me of my childhood."

Rose was sexually abused by her father from the age of 9.

“I had never even heard of trauma or panic attacks but sure I must have been having them for the good part of 50 years. There
wasn’t a day would pass by without the abuse my father inflicted on me corroding some part of my life. I tried to block it out but it
seeped into everything I did, my marriage, my work, day and night, it didn’t give me the chance to forget.

I made a home, and reared 3 boys, but didn’t really start living my life until about 12 years ago.

For 61 years I carried the shamed around, a heavy load I kept from everyone.

My husband died suddenly, he went to his grave never knowing what had happened me. It was shortly after his funeral, that I thought about getting help. It was just me you see, I didn’t have him to help, and I needed to be there for the family.

It took me two years to make the call, then one day I came back from Bingo, I opened the door and walked straight to the phone. I had
memorized the number, I had wanted to call it so many times, 0-1-6-6-2-4-0-7-0, even the sound of the dialing tone that day soothed
me.

I will never forget the voice, she sounded so kind, she said “Hello, this is One in Four, Ann Marie speaking, how can I help you?”

I talked and talked and talked, I told her things no other living soul had heard. I spent three years in therapy, and it changed my life.

Life has been so much easier for me since, that’s why I wanted to tell people. Tell them not to worry, that it’s never too late, to trust
themselves and know that there is help out there.

My grandkids are old enough now to come and make me my tea. They love to bake with me as well, these biscuits were made with
them just yesterday. We bake and chat. They know what happened me, and they know they can tell me anything.

I wouldn’t be able to leave them too much money but if I can give them the power to speak out and know that no one can control or
manipulate them; I will have given them treasure they can use for the rest of their lives.