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

A LETTER TOPARENTSDear Parents,As sons and daughters who wereabducted, thank you for everythingyou did to bring us back safely.We know that the experience wasextremely hard on you and on yourentire family. It is something we allwish had not happened, but it did.Your family will not be as it once was;it is going to be different now. We will all struggle to find the new normal in our lives. But weknow that our return would not have happened if you had not been looking for us, and forthat we are grateful—even if we can’t always say it.Together we can and will get through this. We will begin to reconnectin a way that is positive for all of us. It will not be easy. It is a longroad ahead. We ask that you continue to help us through the processand be patient with us.There may be bumps along the way. It is not our fault that this happened, nor is it yours.Things may be different than before, but different is not always a bad thing. This experience canmake us all stronger. It can make us appreciate each other more. And it can help us to move indirections that we never thought possible.We ask that you help us build trust again—in ourselves, and in others. Please make sure that wehave someone to help us through our journey from abduction to empowerment—someonewho we trust—someone who can help us deal with all that has happened in a constructivemanner. Help us find someone who is just for us—someone we know we can trust to whomwe can say anything and everything we need to say.There are some things we don’t want you to know. Please don’t take this personally. It’s not thatwe don’t trust you. It’s because we want to protect you. Let us do that. And at the same time,please find someone to help you take care of yourselves, and of our brothers and sisters. Thishappened to all of us.58