“A Childhood Tragedy Under A Mother’s Watch” by Catherine Mellen

Some things shouldn’t be allowed to happen. By god, by people, by the way the world works. Whatever overarching rule we believe reigns over our lives, we all agree that it must ensure that children don’t fall victim to the cruelty of adults.

In her memoir, “A Childhood Tragedy Under A Mother’s Watch”, Catherine Mellen opens up about what should never happen, anywhere, to anyone, and under any circumstances. Everyone in her life who turned a blind eye to the severity of the situation, who didn’t listen to her pleas for help, who blamed her for what had been done to her, deserves the harshest punishment. No, they deserve nothing. Not even to end up in hell after death.

Reading this story was soul-crushing. I had to stop so many times to catch my breath, feeling the little girl’s pain with every centimetre of my skin. I was remembering the little girl that I myself used to be and the cocoon of love I was wrapped in. Even though my childhood ended up abruptly and my life turned upside down, that feeling of being the centre of a loving family stayed with me. I carried it like an armour, and it shielded me from blows that were thrown at me in abundance in the subsequent decades. To be denied this most effective of weapons for fending off life’s attacks is a heinous crime. And to imagine that this crime was committed by the child’s mother – it makes my blood boil with rage, futile as it is.

It wouldn’t do any good to describe the plot of this book. Suffice it to say that it chronicles the years of abuse the author had to suffer under the hand of a monster. Someone she lived under one roof with. Someone who was supposed to protect her. Someone whom her mother had chosen over her own child. The abuse scenes are graphic and so horrifying that they are almost unbelievable. It is impossible to accept that there are people lacking anything we are accustomed to believing that makes us human.

To be able to share this story required immense courage. It also demonstrates clearly that the author, in sharp contrast to her tormentor, hasn’t lost an ounce of her humanity. Despite the unimaginable hardships – hell on earth, no less, that she had to go through – she has retained every ounce of kindness, richness of spirit, the generosity of heart, and the purity of soul.

I applaud Catherine Mellen for having endured and emerged as a true victor. If her life hasn’t broken her, her story, told unflinchingly and not shying away from the most horrendous details, cannot break the readers. It can only make them richer in understanding and stronger for not averting their eyes from the painful, uncomfortable truth.