An Introduction

From 1964 through 1965, my siblings and I lived at St Joseph's Child Center on North Avenue in Burlington Vt. On September 10, 2018, Vermont Attorney General T. J. Donovan announced the creation of a task force to investigate claims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and yes, even murder, at the former child center.

I was one of the children who was sexually and physically abused at St. Joseph’s. I’ve carried the emotional scars of those horrible experiences with me all my life. For decades, I kept silent about the embarrassing details of my abuse. However, with the report from the Vermont Attorney General's office due to come out shortly, I hope my truths will no longer have to stand alone. With this report, the wrongdoing, on a massive scale, at the hands of nuns and priests, will no longer be so easily denied.

For many years, I’ve gone from therapist to therapist. None of this did much good. That was until I met my last therapist. She knew that I was a singer/songwriter, and she suggested that I write about my experiences in song form. As a child I was very religious; I loved singing in God’s name. But the abuses I endured at St. Joseph’s made me lose all faith in God. I’ve tried over the years to regain that faith, but it seems it’s lost forever.

One of the songs describes the very moment I remember losing the last piece of my faith. Another has helped me in a battle I’ve fought for over 5o years. Every single day, the refrain, “I don’t want to do this! I don’t want to do this!” has played over and over in my mind. Writing about the events where that refrain began, in lyric form, has showed me that my songwriting is a process that is both artistic and therapeutic. It helps me to reclaim, in some way, aspects of myself that I have lost. Several of my song lyrics are included in a video I recently produced. I would love to share that video with you. At this time, It is available on my Facebook page.