A Paraphrase from Adytum:

Adytum's story is a part of me. It is made up of many parts: my stories, my father’s stories and my mother’s stories. My mother’s stories were told when my father was too dark to reach and I was too young to understand him. The last time she told one of her stories, ice was rattling on the windows and she was laughing loudly, as she always did. I always felt safe then, when she laughed. 

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My father’s memories/stories lacked safeness. His moods left him longing for safety, as his stories always left me . . . 

I do not know how these words make other people feel but I hope readers will feel something. I would like my readers to gather that a child living this way, without security for the most part, is a trauma. It is trauma worthy of causing PTSD. The worry I experienced at such a young age left me living with generational PTSD. Any kind of fear or feeling of insecurity, even sometimes feelings of inadequacy, spark a trigger deep within me, even—now. I am almost 67 years old. It takes the strong support my husband gives me to cope and recover. If nothing else, learning this from my memoir should humanize the term PTSD for anyone who reads it. That is my goal. Your goal should be to read this memoir and receive its takeaways.