ktgirl
Verified College Instructor
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
- Messages
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I started reading Michelle's book today and couldn't put it down. I finished it this evening. This woman has made it through so much. Even before Castro abducted her, she had been neglected and abused by her family, including sexually abused by a male family member.
She has come out of all this abuse and having her life stolen from her as such a loving, strong woman. She's one strong butterfly!
Some new info I found out from reading the book:
- I had seen news reports that her son was conceived because Michelle was gang raped at school. Not so. Michelle had a short-lived romance with a boy at her school who she very much loved (but later found out he had a girlfriend who attended another school; when she found out she was already pregnant with his child. It's not clear that she ever told the father she was pregnant).
- She basically raised and provided everyday care (feeding, bathing, etc) for her siblings and younger cousins. She got them ready for school, fed them (one time by heating hot dogs on a radiator in desperation), etc. She was doing this from a very young age.
- She ran away around age 15 due to the sexual abuse in the home. She was homeless and lived in a trash can under a bridge. Eventually she met a young man who sold drugs who took her in, along with a young man who had been abandoned by his family. They formed their own family (with no abuse) and lived together in what seemed to be the most stable situation Michelle had ever been in as a child. She became homeless again when the man was arrested. A family friend saw her & told her dad, who came and got her.
Michelle's life was pretty horrific even before Castro abducted her. I was horrified reading about everything she had gone through even before she got to the part about Castro. Then when I read about Casto....well, the term "monster" is too kind.
- Michelle cannot physically have children now because of the abuse Castro inflicted on her when he'd force her to miscarry. Michelle seems to have taken the brunt of his rage and she was pregnant several times. It is a wonder that Amanda did not get pregnant again and that Gina didn't get pregnant at all (that has been disclosed).
- When the police & EMTs arrived the day the girls were rescued, they put Michelle on oxygen in the ambulance. She hadn't been feeling well that day but she often didn't feel well. At the hospital it was found that she had a bacterial infection in her stomach. She was very ill and could have died when she arrived at the hospital and she didn't even realize it. The escape/rescue happened just in time.
- Castro made Gina & Michelle pick new names for Amanda's child to call them by. Michelle picked "Juju" because she liked Jujubee candies. Gina picked "Chelsea."
Castro seems to have treated Amanda much differently (this is also referenced in Michelle's Dr. Phil interviews). He referred to her as "his wife." She was kept in a separate room from Michelle and Gina. She was allowed to keep her child. She seems to have been treated somewhat better (though she was still treated horrifically). I am interested to read what Amanda has to say when her book come out because even though she was in the same house-prison as Michelle and Gina, her kidnapping & imprisonment experience had to be very different.
She has come out of all this abuse and having her life stolen from her as such a loving, strong woman. She's one strong butterfly!
Some new info I found out from reading the book:
- I had seen news reports that her son was conceived because Michelle was gang raped at school. Not so. Michelle had a short-lived romance with a boy at her school who she very much loved (but later found out he had a girlfriend who attended another school; when she found out she was already pregnant with his child. It's not clear that she ever told the father she was pregnant).
- She basically raised and provided everyday care (feeding, bathing, etc) for her siblings and younger cousins. She got them ready for school, fed them (one time by heating hot dogs on a radiator in desperation), etc. She was doing this from a very young age.
- She ran away around age 15 due to the sexual abuse in the home. She was homeless and lived in a trash can under a bridge. Eventually she met a young man who sold drugs who took her in, along with a young man who had been abandoned by his family. They formed their own family (with no abuse) and lived together in what seemed to be the most stable situation Michelle had ever been in as a child. She became homeless again when the man was arrested. A family friend saw her & told her dad, who came and got her.
Michelle's life was pretty horrific even before Castro abducted her. I was horrified reading about everything she had gone through even before she got to the part about Castro. Then when I read about Casto....well, the term "monster" is too kind.
- Michelle cannot physically have children now because of the abuse Castro inflicted on her when he'd force her to miscarry. Michelle seems to have taken the brunt of his rage and she was pregnant several times. It is a wonder that Amanda did not get pregnant again and that Gina didn't get pregnant at all (that has been disclosed).
- When the police & EMTs arrived the day the girls were rescued, they put Michelle on oxygen in the ambulance. She hadn't been feeling well that day but she often didn't feel well. At the hospital it was found that she had a bacterial infection in her stomach. She was very ill and could have died when she arrived at the hospital and she didn't even realize it. The escape/rescue happened just in time.
- Castro made Gina & Michelle pick new names for Amanda's child to call them by. Michelle picked "Juju" because she liked Jujubee candies. Gina picked "Chelsea."
Castro seems to have treated Amanda much differently (this is also referenced in Michelle's Dr. Phil interviews). He referred to her as "his wife." She was kept in a separate room from Michelle and Gina. She was allowed to keep her child. She seems to have been treated somewhat better (though she was still treated horrifically). I am interested to read what Amanda has to say when her book come out because even though she was in the same house-prison as Michelle and Gina, her kidnapping & imprisonment experience had to be very different.