Conversations
Conversations with Teddy
Conversations with Teddy is the true story of how a young girl survived growing up in an Australian volatile household in the late 1950s to 1970s.
This extraordinary and moving reckoning of this young girl’s life is based on her conversations with her trusted Teddy reflects one girl’s thoughts and emotions, her escapism from reality living in a family filled with secrets and violence.
The present day sea scenes become a catalyst for reflecting on a past buried in shame, guilt and fear.
Conversations, dreams and poetry interspersed throughout the dialogue reveal submerged emotions, childhood perceptions, and psychological effects on the child through to the brink of adulthood.
Conversations with Teddy is a brooding, eloquent and vivid story about growing up experiencing physical, emotional, spiritual and sexual abuse. I promise it will shake you up, and make you think about some really tough issues that many people keep hidden, too painful to confront.
The story, Conversations with Teddy, is told with remarkable wit, compassion and courage. It's a work of beauty from a beast of a childhood.
Review by A. VanGaalen . Psychotherapist.
'A heartbreaking story, just heartbreaking for an adult to read and then to imagine how a child could live through this is double the heartbreak. Coming from an animal mad family, this story is gutting for me! And I'm sure hard for you to write. Love the poem, I have a few like this that people sent me when I had to put my old dog Bob down and I still have them framed on the wall. The comfort they give still amazes me!'
Foreword
So often we think of the cycle of abuse as a daunting topic, perhaps too dark to explore. Sometimes we think if we read these stories of hurt and pain, it will bring us down. Well, let me stop you right there. This is not one of those stories. This is not a story of “woe is me”, please come join my pity party. This is a retelling of the adventures of a young Shirley as she grows and tries to come to terms with the world around her.
This is a story of a spitfire young girl who is brought to life through the vivid writings of Shirley May. Young Shirley is a joy to get to know and you will find yourself becoming fast friends with this youngster, tickled by her thoughts and actions along the way.
Unfortunately though, Shirley’s world is not as loving as one would hope for a child. She endures more than her share of rejection and abuse but it is the only world that she knows and does not suspect that it is not the norm.
In this book you will be invited into the mind of young Shirley and begin to understand what abuse looks like from the perspective of a child. You will become acquainted with the many coping tools she picks up along the way, one of them, as you might have guessed by now, being her loving confidante, Teddy.
This book covers the topic of abuse in a very non-menacing way – in a simple “it is what it is” approach. As you fall in love with our little heroine, you will find yourself wanting to come to her aid and perhaps even a bit frustrated that you cannot. Shirley has a way of pulling you right into the scenes with her like an invisible friend.
If you are anything like me, you will even forget that Shirley is no longer that little girl you are spending so much time with as you read through these pages. You will find yourself missing her as she grows older because you know she will be leaving you soon. But this is just the beginning…
May these pages bless you as they have blessed me,
Jennifer “Jo” Bingham
Editor, Inspire the Fire
Endorsement
“Conversations with Teddy is a unique approach to telling the story of growing up in a dysfunctional family with egregious abuse – through the eyes a small girl who shares her secrets with her beloved teddy bear. Shirley has such a gift for putting her pain into words. This book would be an excellent tool for therapists to help their clients to learn to journal. I am so proud of you Shirley for your courage to share your journey – in such a poignant and unique way.”
Linda M. Fossen, author “Out of the Miry Clay: Freedom from Childhood Sexual Abuse”