Were You Bullied?

I believe more people have been bullied in their life than many admit to. I never liked to tell anyone or even admit it. It was a big part of my childhood, at school - and at home.

My big sisters thought I was a pest and I thought they hated me most of the time. If your own family doesn't like you, why should anyone else?

At school, it started fast. I was small for my age, way too skinny, had way too much thick black hair (they called me a witch) and my blue eyes were too big. Added to all that I was way too shy. Talk about a target!

Being bullied, teased, made fun of, all of that - is so humiliating, so embarrassing that it is literally painful. Add being threatened to all of that and life is horrible. You sure don't want to tell anyone. I thought my parents might cause me further embarrassment at school. I thought my sisters would think it was funny. Teachers ignored it.

Thankfully, we moved a lot. For some strange reason, I guess it depended on what awkward stages I went through in my life, but for some reason at certain schools I was more accepted. Even popular. I still can't figure that out.

HOWEVER - having said all of that, I now have a great life. I married a man 23 years ago that was one of the best looking guys in his school. He has that kind of male beauty that Brad Pitt had. And he fell in love with me. He married ME! Now we have three great sons, and we are still madly in love. I didn't even know that was possible.

During the hard times of my life, my childhood, I would have never believed that my life could turn out so blessed. So... that is the point of my story. If there is anything you can count on in life, it's Change. In one of my favorite movies, Parenthood, with Steve Martin, the old Grandmother said, "Life is like a roller coaster, you go up and then down, and then you go up again.

Please Hang in there for the ups. Maybe you are supposed to be the one that someday discovers a cure for cancer, or you'll have a child that does. Maybe you are meant to save someone's life one day. They're about to step in front of a bus and you reach out and grab them just in time. Now you're a Hero! In this life - for ALL of us, ANYTHING is Possible.

I'm not saying that I escaped the tormenting without suffering lifelong problems. So now I write books. And in those books I kill people. Some of the names of the dead may sound familiar to people I grew up with. Now who has the last laugh! :D

All the Best and Drive Safely,

KT Banks