Midi: The Rose
by Mel Webb

1975- Tania was born in January, 1975. I didn't think she was alive, because I got beat up bad the night before she was born. Her dad kicked me in the stomach and broke my water.

January 2, 1975- After a long and hard labor, there she was. Barely 6 lbs but healthy. She had a big bruise on her forehead, caused by the forceps the doctor used to deliver her.

1976- She was such a cute toddler, with real curly blond hair. She started walking at the age of 10 months. She had learned to keep away from her dad when he was drunk. She'd go hide under the table or the bed. Her sister Chantal was 10 at the time and she took good care of her when her dad & I would fight. She was a good babysitter and very trustworthy.

1978- I found out she was allergic to cow's milk. All those years, I wondered why she was getting diarrhea so often, now I knew.

That's when we decided to get some goats. She loved them all. We all started drinking goat's milk, it was so sweet and smooth.

1979- She received a lot of attention that summer. She looked so cute showing big goats in the ring. Local newspapers and TV stations took her pictures and published them. I was very pround of her.

1981- Her dad, after a big accident, then getting arrested for drunk-driving was ordered into an alcoholic treatment center. After he was in the center for a week or so, she started to act like a baby. Talking baby-talk and sitting on my lap more than usual. I knew something was not right but couldn't figure out what it was. Then she told me the sordid story of this 15 year old boy, son of a preacher that I was watching until his parents came back from a "Gospel singing tour". He had raped her one day when she was 4 years old. She told me that he f----- her and that he hurt her real bad. When I asked her why she didn't tell me for 2 years about it, she said because he told her that her dad would beat her up real bad if he knew. Her sister & brother both knew about it and kept quiet for the same reason. They didn't want to get in trouble by "Dad".

I took her to see a psychiatrist and I found out that "Fear of her dad" had her more upset than the rape. All the times I was glad that she'd hide from him during fights were signs of her being disturbed.

I called the police about the rape and I was told that he was a juvenile and was now living in another county and nothing could be done about it.

I ran into his dad one day at a mall and told him the whole story. He told me that his son was seeing a psychiatrist and they couldn't figure out his problems. He said that he had probably been mollesting his sister (3 yrs younger) for years, because she never wanted to be home alone with him.

1984- After her dad died, I started spoiling her way too much. I'd let her and her brother get away with pretty much everything they wanted to do. I know today that I was wrong but I swore nobody was ever going to abuse the two kids I had left to raise by myself. Chantal was over 18 and out of the house, Jacques was 15 and Tania was 9.

1985- She went fishing with John's dad one day and spent the night at their house. After she got home, she told me that Cleo (John's dad) made her sleep in his bed and Norma (his mom) slept on the couch. She spent the night hiding in the bathroom because he kept on rubbing his genital on her. On the way back from fishing, he asked her to "Feel it", telling her it was OK, because he was like family. She had better learn it from him than a stranger. She was only 10 at the time. I blew my top. I called him and told him that if he ever tried something like that again, he was going to spend the rest of his life in jail. I couldn't tell Norma, she was mentally ill and I knew she'd end up in that mental hospital again. I think she knew because he put her in there a few days later.

Summer, 1987- Her brother Jacques got in trouble with the law, for stealing a car and some tools from a John Deere store. He spent a month in a Juvenile Center.

1988- Now 13, she was getting out of control. Staying out late with a few friends. More than once, I had to go looking for her. She wasn't at her girlfriend's house like she said. I found her one night at a 4th of July Festival with this 17 yr old boy named Dustin. She was so drunk, he had to carry her.

January, 1990- When I got back from Bingo one night, the phone was ringing non-stop. It was her girlfriend's dad on the line, telling me to go to the hospital, immediately. Tania had taken a bunch of pills that someone gave her. When I got there, I was told that her heart stopped beating twice on the way to the hospital. They pumped her stomach and they found out that she had taken a bunch of libriums and some asthma pills.

We had to run our own investigation on making that 34 yr old man pay for what he did. I bugged my phone and Tania recorded a conversation with one of that guy's friend that took her there that night, telling her exactly what he gave her that night. (5-6 libriums and a bunch of his little girl's asthma pills). BINGO, the prosecutor said we had enough evidence to take him to court. He pled guilty to reduced charges. He was also to pay all of Tania's medical bills, including months of psychologist therapy. We attended AA meetings for 3-4 months.

July, 1990- My family sent me money to go to Québec and see my sister before she died. She had melanoma (skin cancer) and was not expected to live much longer. While I was in Canada, I received a call from Chantal early one morning that Tania didn't come home the night before. They had called all her friends and none had seen her.

They went searching in a town about 15 miles from home and found her in an alley crying. She had been sodomized by a friend she trusted. I hurried home and took her to a clinic right away. The doctor gave her a strong antibiotic and I took her home. She would not let me call the police or give me the name of that so-called friend.

1990- She met a guy in school named Danny. He was 17 yrs old, she was 15. Of course, it was love at first sight. He abused her almost on a daily basis.