Nine Tears

This touching true story is about nine children abandoned by their mother and then left alone by an abusive father. Anna-May and her sister, Shirley, had to protect and bring up their siblings without help.The book begins when a 16-year-old French girl meets a 32-year-old man and is raped. There was a new baby every year. Mother eventually abandoned her nine children, unable to sustain the abuse.Father placed the children in an abandoned house in a rural area from May to December. They could have perished, but for the Lord looking out for them. A Good Samaritan called the authorities, saving their lives.Anna-May makes an oath to her father to bring up her siblings, not realizing the abuses she would suffer. The many scars from broken bones did not deter her from raising her brothers and sisters.All nine abandoned children have become productive members of society.“There were Nine Tears, but we all survived,” said the author. “I realized from a young girl that my friends’ lives were so different from mine. They had love and caring parents, which were so absent in our home. It took four years to complete this book, as I relived each and every incident throughout the book, making it emotionally impossible to continue. I set it aside until I could build up the courage to continue.”