I don't know that I've ever said that I feel badly for that younger self... the one who was molested- I wish I could be there and just say the things that would have comforted my younger self. To say something like, "something happened to you last night.. what was it? You're obviously upset, why don't you tell me about it..." And to express concern.... to contact the authorities so I could be sure the perpetrator wouldn't cause pain to anyone else.

And I'd express concern to that 20-something yr old version of myself. That was a painful thing to hear. My brother was dealing with his own issues, and his reaction had everything to do with him, and virtually nothing to do with me.

My parents didn't mean to cause me so much pain by allowing me to spend the night w/ someone they didn't know very well. They didn't mean to cause me pain by not doing more to figure out what was wrong... I didn't mean to cause myself harm by not talking about it. The mid 1970's were an entirely different time.. no one talked about sex offenders, or "good touch and bad touch".