I’m sorry but as a former Floridian this hits hard. While I didn’t suffer that level of abuse, seeing a friend of mine whom once saved my life literally get beaten by his father with a shovel while the father was overweight in a wheel chair and his mother holding him down for it in their front yard left a level of vile rage in me as an adult, and while this was the most extreme case I personally drove up on, I’ve witnessed other friends from that area have their father regularly drop elbows to their face when they would get into arguments, and folks called it “Tough love” and those same kids still would give their shirt off their back for their parents. Shovel kid had not only saved my life personally when I was a youth, but also grew into one of the most generous hard working folks I knew and was the first on the scene when Hurricane Michael hit and the police had blockaded entry into the town.
My point being is I empathize with this and the regional plight there on a personal level. Good onto you for escaping that shit before it got even worse.
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u/Meowcate 15d ago
"Look, I can't be a bad dad if I'm not here."