To Amanda, Gina and Michelle, from a survivor
May 9, 2013 -- Updated 1410 GMT (2210 HKT)
Ronique Smith enjoys her 3rd birthday in 1972. Her happy childhood ended with her kidnapping at 4.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ronique "Pepper" Smith was kidnapped at 4 and lived from motel to motel till 12
- Forty years after the kidnapping, Smith acknowledges healing will last a lifetime
- Smith says transition from captivity to freedom can be almost as hard as the kidnapping
- Smith offers Amanda, Gina and Michelle hope, says they will overcome and even thrive
Editor's note: Ronique Laquette "Pepper" Smith is a mother and attends college in Northern California. She was kidnapped at 4-years-old by her baby sitter, escaping when she was 12.
(CNN) -- Dear Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight,
My name is Ronique Laquette Smith, and I, too, am a survivor of a kidnapping.
My sister and I were kidnapped by my baby sitter. In 1974, at the age of 4, I was forced to live like a fugitive on the run, from cheap motel to cheap motel -- sometimes sleeping in cars. I endured extreme abuse and neglect during my entire childhood. I only went to school for a few months or weeks at a time, till we would go on the run again.
Ronique Laquette Smith
I was able to get away when I was 12. My kidnapper died in 1986, when I was 16. I had a very difficult time adjusting to the normal world.
Amanda, Gina and Michelle, it is so wonderful that all of you are alive and survived your ordeal. You are very courageous. My heart is with you all. Hearing about your story, I felt it was important to share with you my journey to healing and recovery from kidnapping.
It is important that you know that you are not alone. You have the love and support of your families, your community and other kidnapping victims who were rescued or escaped. You are all survivors, and you will continue to survive.
It's been nearly 40 years since the kidnapping, and I am still healing. It will be my lifetime work. I was diagnosed with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety and have learned to manage my disorders with acupuncture and Chinese herbs, which help calm my nervous system after the trauma my body has endured.
Yoga helps tame my mind by using my breath to find peace and calm after many years of trauma. I also went to the Jaycee Dugard foundation for intensive reunification healing with my family last summer in 2012.
I am learning how to function in society again and most important, learning how to live again. I went back to college and should graduate in 2014.
I offer you hope on this next part of your life journey. It will not be easy, but you can overcome and even thrive. My prayers are with you and your families as you come through this horrible ordeal. I will never forget what happened to me and will never understand how or why this it had to happen -- but I cannot change the past, so I must keep going forward.
During my kidnapping, I lost my entire identity and couldn't remember my real name. I wanted to know who I really was and where my parents were. I contacted attorney Gloria Allred, and we decided to go to the media to tell my story in the hope that my parents would contact me.
That is exactly what happened. "Dateline NBC" aired my story in 2011, and 37 years after my kidnapping, my real mother found me by seeing me on the show. It was a miracle. Despite being my biological mother, she had to formally adopt me.
I believe I survived for a reason, in order to keep telling my story and document my own personal healing process. The healing process has been difficult but not impossible. Sometimes the transition from captivity to freedom can be almost as difficult as the transition from freedom to captivity. That certainly was the case for me.
I am truly grateful to be alive and to be able to share with you. I hope it helps. As you continue to come through your ordeal, just remember to take one day, one hour, one breath at a time. You strong, brave women are in my thoughts and prayers.
Peace, love and many blessings,
Ronique Laquette Smith
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ronique Laquette Smith.
We recommend
From around the web
May 9, 2013 -- Updated 1415 GMT (2215 HKT)
Ben and Jerry invite you to stamp your dollars with messages that promote getting special interest money out of politics.
May 9, 2013 -- Updated 1410 GMT (2210 HKT)
Ronique Laquette Smith, who was kidnapped at 4, writes a letter of hope to the women who survived 10 years of captivity.
May 9, 2013 -- Updated 1402 GMT (2202 HKT)
Howard Kurtz says the story of the kidnapped women freed in Cleveland should command our attention.
May 9, 2013 -- Updated 1627 GMT (0027 HKT)
Cornell Belcher says a new report showing turnout rate of African Americans exceeded whites could herald major political changes.
May 9, 2013 -- Updated 0835 GMT (1635 HKT)
Robert Gebbia says it is alarming that more middle-aged Americans are taking their own life.
May 8, 2013 -- Updated 1141 GMT (1941 HKT)
Shane Koyczan says in a childhood full of the pain of bullying, he discovered a sense of humor and more
May 8, 2013 -- Updated 1638 GMT (0038 HKT)
Kenneth Lanning says long-term missing person cases are the most difficult and emotionally draining for law enforcement
May 8, 2013 -- Updated 1137 GMT (1937 HKT)
Edward Alden advises Republicans to look to the north, where Conservatives adopted pro-immigration policies and became the leading party
May 8, 2013 -- Updated 1302 GMT (2102 HKT)
Ruben Navarrette says if former Gov. Bill Richardson wants to attack Ted Cruz, it should be about his politics, not his Hispanic authenticity
May 8, 2013 -- Updated 1037 GMT (1837 HKT)
Some say Gov. Chris Christie got lap band surgery cause he wants to be president. He says he did it for his family. Bryan Monroe says he probably did it to live.
May 7, 2013 -- Updated 1128 GMT (1928 HKT)
Christopher Ferguson says it's scary to think that anyone, including the insane, can print a workable gun at home.
May 8, 2013 -- Updated 1500 GMT (2300 HKT)
Peter Bergen says only a very small number of released Guantanamo inmates have returned to terrorism.
May 8, 2013 -- Updated 0946 GMT (1746 HKT)
Real democratic progress in Cuba will happen when the gates of travel are opened, says Sandra Guzmán.
May 7, 2013 -- Updated 1224 GMT (2024 HKT)
Daniel Mitchell says state laws should only apply to things happening inside a state's borders.
80°
HI 81°LO 61°
Atlanta, GAWeather forecast
Home | Video | World | U.S. | Africa | Asia | Europe | Latin America | Middle East | Business | World Sport | Entertainment | Tech | Travel | iReport
Tools & Widgets | RSS | Podcasts | Blogs | CNN Mobile | My Profile | E-mail Alerts | CNN Radio | CNN Shop | Site map | CNN Partner Hotels
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment