It had been years since I had seen any of the children with whom I had grown up. When I left the children’s home, I promised myself that I would have nothing to do with them, I was sure that my only chance of living a good life would be to put the past behind me, even though that meant saying goodbye to some of the people I loved the most – as well as the ones I hated…it turned out that six of us had died, several by slow suicide in the form of heroin abuse, and at least two by faster means. When two police officers arrived out of the blue at Paul Connolly’s door, he learned the shocking news that, out of the eight children with whom he shared a dormitory in care, only two were still alive. The revelation unearthed painful memories of a childhood that, until this point, Paul had tried desperately to put behind him. Abandoned at two weeks old, Paul came of age in the infamous St Leonards’s Children’s Home in East London. The children there were routinely abused, often over the course of many years. All were underfed and unloved and told that they would amount to nothing. Angry and frustrated, Paul channelled his rage into boxing – but when an accident shattered his ambition to turn professional, he found his true calling and became a successful trainer, even working as a consultant on the pilot of a top model’s fitness video. Paul has finally found peace and fulfilment beyond anyhing he could have imagined all those years ago. He has found happiness with his wife and children and now helps to heal broken bodies, build confidence and transform lives – but he will never forget his past and the unnecessary victims of broken society…
‘Look in the mirror, because if you don’t like what you see you need to change it because your kids will become you. If you have a road-rage incident, your kid will grow up to experience road rage; if you scream and shout, your kid will scream and shout. You want to look in the mirror and stop the behaviour you don’t want your kid to emulate.’
Highlighted by 10 Kindle users
That dreadful understanding, of being utterly alone and unloved, shatters confidence and hope the way nothing else can.
Highlighted by 7 Kindle users
The Church never intervened in any matters concerning our material welfare, and seemed to see us as nothing more than souls to claim for the Catholic God by dispensing the basic sacraments without explanation. The hypocrisy of the whole thing still makes me very angry. Presumably, my mother had eight children she clearly did not want because she was a Catholic and good Catholics do not use birth control. Heaven forbid! Having thus ensured our arrival into an unfriendly world, the Church did not seem to feel any further responsibility for us.
Against All Odds: The Most Amazing True Life Story You"ll Ever Read
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий