I grew up in a single-parent household. My two half-siblings didn't live with us, and my full sibling moved out as soon as she could for college. You see, my mother always needs a form of an emotional punching bag. My sister and I split it for a while, but once she left, it was just me.

I became the sole beneficiary of her bad day anger, late afternoon mood swing, and everything in between.

I grew up believing that the words that fell out of my mouth were worth as much as the dirt outside because my nickname when I was younger was "Bekah Hush." So ... I hushed.

The older I got and the more I wanted to speak, the more I got in trouble. To cover the hurt from her loud voice, I became cold to the outside world. The only words I expressed were through writing. You see, each year, my mother became more emotionally abusive. With each year, I had to tiptoe softer around her in the house. Clutching onto my notebooks that filled faster than the buckets in the broken leaking house of my life on a stormy night, and it was always storming.

Once I graduated, I did as my sister did and moved out.

But I moved further north, and our relationship got colder just like the weather. Though it's colder here, it doesn't rain as much. Everyone always talks about mending the relationship they have with their parents when they get older, but for me ... that's not something I see happening. Finally getting out from under the dark cloud that was her, I feel like I can finally breathe again.

It's taking so long to heal from the thunderstorm that is my childhood, but I've learned a lot from it.

I'm nicer to not only myself but those around me because of it. It's taken me so long to get to this point in my life, but I'm finally getting so much better. I wake up smiling more because I know the weight of my mother on my back is mostly gone. I've moved three hours away, and its three hours of freedom. Three hours of healing.

I'm healing from her and I'm writing more. I'm doing more of what got me through the hard times to make me even stronger as I continue to heal.

So, in spite of all you've put me through, I'm getting better.