Thank you so much, Alison. Healing and awareness indeed took a long time in this situation, but you’re so right, and I didn’t even think of it the way you expressed it: a lot of the healing does indeed come down to the word “okay.” Abuse victims are gaslit into believing that every pain they’re experiencing is somehow their fault. But to realize that they are “okay” — that their personalities, desires, emotions, etc. are all perfectly normal — is truly where the bulk of the transcendence lies.

I appreciate your good wishes, and I wish you all the same.