Comments on: Soup Supper Success!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Wed, 10 May 2006 12:06:27 +0000

Dawn,

Wow. What an incredible story. Your courage and strength are an inspiration to all who are mired in abusive relationships. Keep up the fine work. May God bless and protect you.

By: Alee

Alee — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:41:55 +0000

That is AWESOME!! You are SO amazing and SUCH an inspiration to women who`ve endured similar acts done upon them.

By: Mari

Mari — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 20:50:43 +0000

Dear Dawn,
I completely can relate to your trials and tribulations. As a young girl I too was involved in drugs and an older man. At 14 my parents were going thru one nasty divorce, and since I felt I had nowhere to turn I ran away to San Francisco. I went there to follow an old boyfriend from 8th grade. Three thousand miles away from home I found him. He was a punk rocker and a bicycle courier and he helped me to shoot up for my first time. It didn’t make me feel too cool to trip out on speed feeling like I couldn’t catch my breath. I left him immediately and went to a small suburb of San Francisco called Dublin. Once in Dublin I met up with my partner in crime Tasha. She and I traveled the coast of Cali going from place to place always finding time to help at least one person less fortunate than us. We always dressed the best and no one would have ever believed that we were on the run. When I was about 5 my parents were residents of Glendale, CA. I had people drive Tasha and I around until I found the street that I used to live on. Once there we found my parents neighbor Uncle Frankie. I told uncle Frank some lie and before ya knew it we were living with him in the lap of luxury. We went to Melrose and had our hair done, we partied with all of his friends and neighbors, we partied with hot guys we met at the clubs. We were having the time of our lives. Uncle Frankie finally got wind that we might be runaways and he called my dad. I promised he and my father that I would go back home but I think Uncle Frankie was smarter than that. He left us a couple of hundred dollars and we bolted back up the coast to Oakland. There we started to lead somewhat normal lives. I ended up getting a job as a waitress at the Merritt Restaurant in Oakland under the name of one of my friends older sisters. I don’t remember quiting that job but I remember that soon I left Oakland for Stockton and started working at a place on the river called Lost Isle. There it was a constant party lots of drinking and smoking pot. All in all it was a fairly nice place. I tried cocaine a couple of times but wasn’t really interested in the high. I called my parents a couple of times a month to let them know that I was still alive. Soon I became very homesick… I finally decided to go back and try to live with my father in Arizona. Dad had made a love connection and was seeing a lady named Donna. Donna had a 18 year old son named Karl. Karl had recently moved out into his first apartment with his girlfriend. On several occasions when my dad would go see Donna I would go with. Karl and I became friends. Karl decided to take me to a party at his old Roommate’s house. Thats where I first tried to free base and I fell in love. Within hours I had been taken from a innocent child to a drunken and dazed junkie. Steve violated me as I lay passed out on the floor of his apartment. I remember Karl finding me and there was a fight between he and Steve. I assured Karl that I was OK, I didn’t want to make a scene. I loved the feeling that I got every time I smoked another hit. Soon I must have gone back to Karl’s mom’s house because I remember being hung over for two days with Karl on the couch. Everyone thought it was funny and made jokes about our drunken encounter but no one knew the real truth about what really went on. I am unclear on the way I ended up back at the apartment but needless to say I never went home after that. For months I stayed with Steve, a slave to the pipe. Almost everyone that lived in that building was a base head. Steve was the one that everyone would go to for their dope, Steve was friends with the big man Kevin. I remember feeling really important because everyone would always be out looking to hang out with us. We always had all the drugs and all the parties. The parties were fun but at the end of each night Steve would pound a bottle of Peppermint schnapps to get to sleep. He would drink so much that I would see him turn blue from not breathing. As I was only 15 at the time I was unsure what to do with my lover turning blue. Sometimes I would try to wake him up to breathe and he would wake up to beat the living crap out of me, sometimes when he would turn blue I would hope that he wouldn’t live. The beatings became more prevalent as the time went on. I started to think of ways that I could get away from Steve, I remember one time I tried to leave and he locked me in a bedroom. All I wanted was to get away from him. Then I got my chance. Kevin and his girlfriend needed a babysitter. I for the life of me do not know why they choose me a 15 yr old junkie but they did. Kevin was out constantly scoring dope and selling it to the various people he did business with, his girlfriend had two small children one a baby and one a three year old named Xavier. I was in charge of helping her with the kids, I also found out that her and her mother Lydia were into shooting up behind Kevin’s back. On several occasions I had to help Lydia shoot her dope, soon I tried to do it to myself but because I was too underweight I was unsuccessful. Kevin was all the time oblivious to what was going on in his own house. I thought that they were crazy and that Kevin was going to kill all of us if he ever found out. Soon I went back to my 27 year old lover. I remember we had some rich kids that were constantly parting at our house, I had a crush on one of them but for the life of me I cant remember his name. Steve found out that I was flirting with this man and beat the life out of me. Some of our neighbors must have felt sorry for me and called the police. When the police came to our home they took Steve to jail and told me that I was going to be award of the state if I couldn’t go to my fathers house. When I gave the police the phone number for my dad they called him and to my dismay he told them he didn’t have a daughter. I was on the way to juvenile detention when I asked if they called my fathers girlfriend would that count as a guardian. They called Donna and she came and got me. Within hours I was on a bus back to Florida, back to the life I had thrown away. I wasn’t really angry anymore and needless to say I ended up an honor roll student. My mother was remarried and wanted nothing to do with me and my father did not either but I had only one thing in mind…. Making it out alive, and staying the hell away from drugs.
I watched the movie I think your story is amazing!

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 22:02:09 +0000

Dear Dawn,

There are no better rewards in life when you can give back to society or even to God. When I helped in the conservation/preservation of a cathedral in a different country I thought to myself who would’ve guess 20 years ago that I would be where I am today…Thank you God!

For me this is where sheer happiness lies. I love helping/giving of my time especially to children and people who are going through similar experiences as mine. But although on the outside I project the image of a strong woman, inside I still carry scars which make it hard to talk about it. But it takes one day at a time and one day like you I surely will!

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post and for your kind words!

Alexandra

By: Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 19:23:02 +0000

Hi Alexandra,

Congratulations on your successes and thank you for kind words. The working title is “The Road Through Wonderland”. Books are a process and I am working hard at it.

It is a great feeling to give back.

Blessings,

Dawn

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 21:18:54 +0000

P.S. What is the name of your book and where I can I purchase a copy?

Thank you!

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 20:45:48 +0000

I wanted to reach out to you and say that you are a courageous woman who overcame so many obstacles. Your story is sad. Yet it offers HOPE. I never heard of you until I saw the film “Wonderland” and was curious to learn what happened to you. I stumbled upon your website by accident and was impressed with the woman you are today and as I read all the letters from tens of thousands of young women it made my heart swell because you turned something very horrible into a positive. Your past didn’t defeat you but instead made you stronger. I came to California when I was 14 years old on a Greyhound bus carrying a paper bag as a suitcase. I left home because of abuse. I eventually married an older man who had been married 10 times under many different names. I was his 10th wife. It was a violent marriage. Many bad things happened which to this day is hard for me to speak about in public. Suffice it to say, we were rich and although under California law I could’ve received half of everything from our marital assets, I left that marriage with my child, our lives and the clothes on our back. I surrendered all the material things that we had accumulated in our marriage, the properties, money everything, sometimes there are more things more precious than material such as life itself and one’s freedom. When I left, deep inside of me I knew that I would be fine and I would make a success with my life. I worked at the LA Public Defender’s Office learning new skills yet, yearning to understand why this dark thing happened to me. It took many years of therapy and I now understand. I even wrote a book about my experience but it has never been published chiefly because I never showed anyone. It was something I had to do to put things in perspective. Today, I am the CEO of 2 California corporations, I have been invited to participate in World Forums, I interact with leaders of different nations including our own. I believe I am a success. Sure, I’ve made mistakes but I would like to think that I learned from those mistakes. From the core of my soul I will never forget where I came from or the struggles and like you I think that if I can make it so can anyone else – everyone deserves second chances and sometimes yes, even third chances!
I am very touched by your story ~ thank you for sharing it with us. I applaud you for your courage and from one woman to another embrace you for you are a winner in every sense of the word!

Thank you for helping others~

Alexandra

By: Angeline

Angeline — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 21:08:14 +0000

Hey Dawn, that was truly an inspiring speech and I’ve said this before but you are such an inspiration to all women, especially those who have been in abusive relationships. Also, I wanted to know the status of your book? I definitely want to know when it comes out so I can purchase it. thanks

By: Movie Fan

Movie Fan — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:55:16 +0000

With today being March 13, the 18th anniversary of John Holmes’ death, it makes one wonder if John is looking down, free from the drugs and paranoia, and cheering Dawn on to success. Successfully helping other women escape the abuse that came at the hands of abusive men and drugs. And maybe he is also cheering on if her work keeps just one MAN from getting hooked on drugs too.

By: Jen

Jen — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 07:56:33 +0000

Dawn,

Good work! While reading your speech, I couldn’t help but think that you’re doing the work that was meant for you. Heck of a way to get there, but it’s true, we don’t always know what’s in store for us. You’re very brave to share your story, and to carry on with your life trusting others.

It took my mother years to finally walk out on my dad one final time, and not take him back. She did it. While it was hard on all of us, I wouldn’t trade the peace we had once my dad was out of our lives. In some ways it damaged me. I don’t trust men at all. I would love to have married and maybe had children. But I don’t want to wind up marrying my dad. While I’ve never been with someone who’s physically abused me, I have met up with other types who have hurt me in other ways.

Counselling does work, and maybe I can still have these things, someday. But for now, I’d rather help those worse off than I’ll ever be.

Let us know when your book comes out! I’m sure you’re worn out from all of us asking.

Be well,

Jen.