A friend shared this traumatic event via a facebook post. It was such a shocking story. I was taken aback that it would fall to the bottom of the newsfeed with a few "likes and sad emojis" …only to be scrolled away.
I immediately heard her courageous words as a song in my head. With her permission, I put it to music and I recorded it with the hope of it possibly helping others ...as was her wish by posting it. Her strength is yet another testament that light does indeed shine through the darkness.
lyrics
It was super bowl Sunday when I finally became my own hero.
While meeting a potential client, I was attacked & reported to the SVU bureau.
So many thoughts were racing through my head, yet I couldn’t compose the sentences to be said.
I was completely in shock, as detectives asked me to get him to talk.
But this was no ordinary guy, he knew the system & served as a private eye.
You see for him it was all too easy. I couldn’t have been the first ...believe me.
These monsters don’t send that “check you out” look. They just quietly study your routine like a book.
And then they stage a meet up, mentally unlocking your brain 'til they sneak up.
And at that point it’s much too late, it’s a bad dream and you need to escape.
Feeling completely violated under the monster’s scour, survival mode kicks in, instinctively you find the power.
The power, to get out of a foreign place, with memories you immediately want to erase.
Chorus:
Strong, you are strong, you are strong
Strong, you are strong, you are strong
So you find someone with a pure heart, and explain to them that you’re falling apart.
They tell you it’s not your fault, and that you’re a victim of an assault.
But you’re just constantly counting the times, the moments that felt like signs,
Where you should have seen it coming ...and you should have started running.
Also nervous “will people believe me?” Your heart racing and breathing wheezing.
But I was blessed to have friends with much support who encouraged me to make a report.
The catch, you only get an order of protection, once the police are able to arrest them.
So I waited for 9 days until he turned himself in, afraid of the fake profiles friends found of him.
Chorus
Those days I stayed hidden, scared of my own skin. Once he was in custody my life could begin again.
Protected, but not permanently in place, just until the resolution of the case.
Where lawyers kept asking me to remember I sat shaking, trying to keep it all together.
Yet surprised myself at times speaking loud, emotions on a rollercoaster, ashamed then proud.
The judge said it was one of the hardest decisions in his career, but we needed more facts to make it clear.
To prove guilty beyond doubt we needed more evidence for any of the charges to enforce a sentence.
Now I’m left with zero years of protection, this failed system is in need of the objection.
The survivor shouldn’t have to see their monster for life; they stole a piece of them and that can’t be made right.
And now I sit constantly feeling like I need space, yet continuously looking for somewhere that seems safe.
The only positive in this experience is that one day, I could help another survivor who felt astray...
Realize that they can be healed and love as others do ...that they are beautiful, and WE BELIEVE YOU!
No matter the flawed system,
SPEAK YOUR TRUTH!
Eileen Ivers will change the way you think of the violin.
Grammy awarded,
Emmy nominated,
“a sensation"-
Billboard
"Jimi Hendrix of the violin"-NY Times.
Pushes trad fiddle boundaries from folk music staple to intensely driving world stage experience
…performer,composer,producer,songwriter,bandleader,educator,multi-instrumentalist,pioneer,connects her American,Irish trad,jazz, blues,and world roots...more
supported by 6 fans who also own “You Are Strong (A Friend's Story)”
So pleased to see your second album on its way. I’ve just about worn a hole in your first CD because I love it so much. Cannae wait due the whole thing to appear on 4th May. The taster track is AWESOME!! 🙏 floradouglas
supported by 6 fans who also own “You Are Strong (A Friend's Story)”
Just the most fun. Every set is one I want to sit down and learn, and they play with so much ENERGY and STYLE. Crunchy, tangible sound. I'll never get tired of listening to Kinnaris Quintet play. andpersand
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