Excellent, Anastasia — your story, the humor, your writing. I read this early on Thanksgiving morning and it seemed to be the perfect story for an extremely American holiday. I am sorry for how you were treated as a child — the cruelty was astounding — and that the Baptists taught you to live in fear rather than love was so wrong yet so Baptisty. They had me for a while, too. Thankfully, we both escaped!