Memphis

We are in Memphis right now. You may be wondering what this has to do with the rape. Well, going along with yesterday’s post, it has to do with my rape anniversary. I was trying to find something to do for me on that first anniversary. One of the other things I felt like I lost was my drive to exercise, especially run. I used to run all the time before the rape and I even completed a marathon a couple years before. So when the anniversary was approaching, I decided to look for a run. I knew a marathon or even a half marathon was a bit out of my range since I had let myself get so out of shape and I only had a few weeks to train. So I started looking for a 5K in my area. I did a few internet searches and came across a site for the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center (Memphis is only a 4 hour drive from me). They just happened to be hosting a “Take Back the Night” 5K the week before my anniversary! I was so excited and I decided that I was going to participate.

I also wanted to do something for the Women’s Resource Center. I could go on and on about how wonderful they were to me during my first 2 years after the rape, but I will save that for another post. Anyway though, they were so great to me that I decided to do the run as a fundraiser for them. So I sent out a note to ALL of my friends, family, friends of the family, etc. letting them know what happened to me a year ago and what a wonderful organization the Women’s Resource Center is and I asked them for donations.

I was extremely nervous to send out that letter. After what happened to me with the police detective, I was afraid that people wouldn’t believe me. I was afraid that I would lose more friends. I almost didn’t send it out because of this. Then I decided that if the Women’s Resource Center even gets a small amount of money, it would be worth it. So I reluctantly dropped the letters off in the mailbox and went home.

A couple days later, the donations started pouring in. With the donations were words of encouragement and support. I couldn’t have asked for a better boost on my one year anniversary. A time when I thought I’d be all depressed, I had never felt more loved. And to top it off, I was able to raise over $3000 for the Women’s Resource Center. Having so many people rally around me like that was extremely therapeutic and it helped me heal more from the emotional wounds.

Although I never ask my friends and family for money anymore, I do continue to do the Take Back the Night run every year. Many of my friends know I am going down there and will send a donation along with me anyway. I’m sad that this year they are not having the run anymore. Since we already reserved our rooms, we decided to go anyway. We went to the Red Birds game last night and we plan to attend some museums and hang out on Beale Street today. Not exactly what we had planned, but it should still be fun. I plan to send any donations I receive into the Women’s Resource Center and just enjoy myself in Memphis. I need to start a new tradition next year. I’m glad I have a whole year to figure that out, because I have no ideas now. Any suggestions are welcome!