It sounds idyllic, because I wanted to emphasize the beautiful part of that life. However, it was very hard. My father was a brute. He brutalized all of us, and left us without resources. We had to escape. We literally ran away one morning. He threatened to kill anyone who helped us. It really was something out of a Tennessee Williams play, except it was real.

But there was beauty, beauty that is a part of me.

Thank you for your lovely assessment of the story... it means a lot.