What’s wild is that you’ll have an abusive parent. And you’ll maintain a relationship with them despite your better instincts because that’s your parent and you want them to be a parent. And one day you’ll bring up all the things that they did to you because they need to be addressed. The baggage needs to be unpacked. And they’ll say what do you want me to do with this box of rotting flesh? And you’ll say I want you to acknowledge the box of rotting flesh. I want you to apologize for cutting it off of me and stuffing it into that box and then forcing the box onto me. I want you to recognize that I have been carrying this box for years. And I want you to help me carry it. And they’ll say well where’s my apology for you putting your unsuspecting body into my hands and then expecting me not to stick a knife in you? And you just have to move on because the only alternative is rotting in the box yourself.
— James Baldwin from, “Giovanni’s Room” originally published in 1956
[id: black text on a white background that reads: “To remember it so clearly, so painfully tonight tells me that I have never for an instant truly forgotten it.” /end id]
