You're Not Alone: The Journey from Abduction to Empowerment

come to depend on. And believe it or not, I was nervous about returning to thelife I led a few weeks earlier. I was filled with so many emotions: Excitement. Joy.Anxiety. Peace. Anticipation. Fear. You may have had similar emotions when youreturned home, or even different ones. I found out later that this is normal.I did not realize this at first, but families suffer the experience with you—it’s kindof a ripple effect. It happened to you—and it happened to them. Even in a tightlybonded family, you may feel estranged from everyone around you. This too isnormal. I found it helpful to find my own space and to set boundaries, to figureout what I needed and tell others what it was. If you need family constantlyaround you, so be it. If not, that’s okay, too. Just remember they love you, theylooked for you, prayed for you, and did everything under the sun to find you.But just as we are different individuals, how we cope and deal with adversitiesis different—and sometimes different than even we expected. Some familymembers may want to talk about what’s happened, and others may not. You maywant to talk, or you may not. Everyone deals with their experience in their ownway. The important thing is to communicate what you want and what you need.“I have two older brothers who have handledthis experience in totally different ways. Awhile after I came home, I went to them andsaid, ‘Look, we’ve never talked about whathappened, but I want you to know that I amhere. Ask me anything you want, wheneveryou want.’ One took me up on that and askedme a lot of questions. My other brother and Ihave never talked about it to this day. Bothways are fine. I’m still their sister, which willnever change. ”42