Thank you R.A. Dickey for sharing your story. As a public figure, your voice can do much to empower our youth to speak up if they are being abused and also to empower adult survivors to be brave and break their silence as well.
Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball
With a new epilogue by author R.A. Dickey, winner of the 2012 Cy Young award"An astounding memoir—haunting and touching, courageous and wise."—Jeremy Schaap, bestselling author, Emmy award-winning journalist, ESPNIn 1996, R.A. Dickey was the Texas Rangers’ much-heralded No. 1 draft choice. The...
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In his book, “Wherever I Wind Up”, Dickey writes about his life both in baseball and also his personal life–from his time as a child “closing Nashville bars with his mother at age 5” to his years as a troubled teen and on into his adulthood–including revealing sexual abuse he suffered as a child and the problems that created with intimacy and trust well into his adult life.
Dickey says, “I felt dirty, I felt ashamed and alone, and I felt there was something terribly wrong with me.”
This shame and fear effectively isolated him from true intimacy even with his wife, who he did not tell about his abuse until about 8 years into their marriage.
Dickey knows the pain and the destruction that living a life of secrets creates. It wreaks havoc on the survivor’s personal well-being and every relationship that survivor has, as well. When he finally decided to share his whole story in his memoir, he explains, “It was important to me to tell the truth, to be completely authentic. Sharing the pain I went through is part of the healing for me, a catharsis in many ways. I love baseball, I love competing and I think there’s a lot of good baseball insight in the book, but the most important thing to me was to tell the truth and to share my story, because it strengthens me, and I think it can help other people, too.”
Thank you, R.A. Dickey, for helping to #UndoTheTaboo and by bringing your message of healing and hope to the world. Every CSA survivor that speaks out and stops hiding makes it easier for others to do the same and begin their own healing process. Thank you for sharing your story with courage and humility, for focusing on yourself and your healing journey, and for providing hope to others through your transparency.
This is what child sexual abuse survivors can do!
About the Author
Robert Allen Dickey is an American professional baseball pitcher who has played in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves.
Sources
Martino, Andy. “R.A. Dickey Book: Childhood Sexual Abuse Revealed in Memoir with Daily News‘ Wayne Coffey; NY Mets Pitcher Thought about Suicide – NY Daily News.” Nydailynews.com, New York Daily News, 28 Mar. 2012.