I'm very sorry about the intense abuse suffered by so many of you. A comparatively small incident happened to me, kind of similar to what happened to Edelweiss, but I was about 5 and was learning to ride a two wheeler. I used to wear dresses all the time. I'd fallen off the bike when trying to turn around at the corner. A man -- I later learned he was maybe about 18 -- ran over to me and exposed himself and told me to suck it. Of course I said no. He said it again. At that time there was a funny smell in the air -- I later understood it was air pollution from steel plants farther south in Chicago. In my young mind I thought it was coming from his "thing" and thought it was fake and that it was full of poison and he was trying to trick me so he'd poison me. Isn't that wild? He stuck his hand down my pants and asked if it hurt. It did, but I said no. He again made his request and I kept refusing, so he ran off.

I went home and told my mother about it. And here's the thing == for years I thought she hadn't believed me. So this always haunted me and I'm sure the incident has a lot to do with the person I am and the choices I've made. But she said that she'd asked me if I was scared and I told her no because I'd seen my brothers' before. She said she tried not to freak me out, so she acted very nonchalant. I attended a high school reunion and ran into an old friend. We got to talking about the neighborhood and found that she'd been approached by the same guy. But her father found out about it and called the cops and the guy went to jail. My mom later confirmed it too. She'd known at the time that my friend had also shared that experience. So...Edelweiss, see, I told my mom, but I'm not sure if in the end it made things better or worse for me. I used to tell this story at slumber parties sometimes because I was trying to process it all. Oh, and after that, I always wore shorts under my dress.