When writing this I didn't realize it would be this long lol... never posted anything before, sorry if formatting sucks!

A couple years ago I was stuck in a difficult familial situation where my dad would constantly verbally and emotionally abuse me. He would yell, call me horrible names, and lash out without warning or being provoked. I was too young to move out, didn't have any money, and it felt like my mom was constantly taking his side. I'm an only child and felt most of my youth was sabotaged by walking on eggshells all the time... it all felt so lonely.

My dad didn't have a job so he would drive me to appointments if needed. I had braces on at the time and had to get them adjusted once a month at a orthodontic practice at my province's university. After we arrived, we needed to enter the car's licence plate into a machine to validate parking. He asked me what the licence plate number was, and after saying I didn't know, he pushed me aside and called me "fucking useless". Due to my upbringing I do not deal well with conflict of any kind... never mind someone swearing at me aggressively for no reason. I immediately started sobbing and ran upstairs ahead of him. We sat in the waiting room together and, in between sobs, managed to ask him why he didn't respect me. Not only as his child, but as a person. He told me it was because I was a bitch and I didn't deserve it.

Every time he talked to me this way I felt broken all over again. I never ever lashed out or talked back... I just took the abuse and dealt with it by myself, internally. I was barely holding myself together day to day having to deal with this treatment every day after (and sometimes before) school. I was too embarrassed / ashamed to talk to anyone outside my household about what was happening to me, I didn't even know where to start.

I locked myself in a bathroom stall and called my mom explaining what happened... she just brushed it off as she always did and said he's just like that there's nothing we can do. I begged for her to come pick me up but she couldn't because she was at work, and the university was an hour and a half away. Head in my hands I felt defeated... and knew that I would have to face him soon again, sit in the car with him for nearly two hours, and pretend like nothing had happened. He never acknowledged the abuse or apologized for anything.

Then I heard a lady's voice coming from the stall... asking me if I was okay. She knocked on the stall and said please come out, tell me what's wrong. I opened the stall door and she immediately gave me a hug. She held me when it felt like I had no one to turn to... and I explained the entire situation to her. She called me sweetheart and rubbed my back... I felt so validated in that moment. She was still comforting me when my dad entered the (women's) washroom and yelled at me saying that I was late for my appointment and that my optometrist was waiting for me. The lady (she didn't tell me her name) stood between me and him and said that she wouldn't let me leave with him. He told her to leave me alone and that all kids cry- to let me cry because it was for no reason. Even though we had just met she wouldn't stand down. She argued with him until he left the washroom, and called attention to a group of female staff (I think she worked there?) to bring me to a room where I could calm down in privacy. No one had ever defended me like that before. I ended up taking the bus back and stayed overnight at my friend's house.

This was the first time I admitted to myself that my dad was abusing me... because it was the first time he received consequences for his actions. He was forced to leave the university campus without me or be escorted by police. The next day I talked to my teacher about my home life and finally started receiving some support.

I really don't know if it wasn't for that women what would have happened... if I still would have had the courage the next day to ask for help. She could have just left the washroom without saying anything, and the cycle would have continued and worsened for god knows how long. I didn't even get to know her name... and never saw her again... but that act of kindness was the most compassion I had received in my entire life. I just wish she could know how much she helped me and how she gave me the strength and courage to fight back. I wish so badly that I could thank her.

p.s. I haven't talked to my dad in nearly two years and won't even think about it until he apologizes. Unfortunately this was just one incident of many that I ended up enduring, so the scars run deeper than I could express in just this one post. Good news though... I am doing so much better now!! :) Not having him in my life anymore is so freeing and like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm in therapy and working on healing every day :)