Editor’s note: Claudette Bedard wrote this poem after attending the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women event at Genevra House in Sudbury Dec. 6.
This little girl just found herself,
Her name is Claudette.

And I would like for all to listen and hear what her heart has to say.
She’s a very broken child.
I would just like to say, I’m just starting to live now at the age of 65.

I would like the world to know there is a lot of pain in my heart,
But that I am trying to heal.

I want to be a new person.
I want to feel free.
I want to know what it is to be my own little person.
I want to flourish.
I want to see the world from a new perspective.

I am enjoying my freedom.
I am letting go of a lot of pain.
There are a lot of things I love to do now that I am free.

I love going shopping and finding my bread on sale for $1.79.
I love talking to people.

I want to help people.
I want them to feel a freedom from pain.
I want to have an incredible life.

I don’t want to hurt anymore.
I don’t want to be judged anymore.
I don’t want to feel sad anymore.
I don’t want to be rejected by all the people I love so much.

I’ve been through enough in my life to say, “I want and deserve to be free!”
I love my life right now.

I want to be free.
I want everyone to understand that I want and need to be in my own cocoon, for now.
This is coming from my heart.
I need people to acknowledge my freedom.
To understand where I’ve been and where I am at this time in my life.

I want to see this happy child in my life.
I just want to see something new to me.

I flourished just like a cala lilly.

Claudette Bedard
Greater Sudbury