Echoes of Abuse

I've moved as far away from that place and those memories as possible to find and make better ones. But I somehow could not get away from alumni mail from the school. To someone else, the slick color photos would show a sprawling green campus with stately neo-goth buildings. To me they were unwanted and jarring reminders of where I lived for 4 long years in the shadow of sickly abuse by faculty. And unwelcome photos showed the places of my abuse, Cluett Hall, Dann Building, and All Saints Chapel where I sang as a small choir boy. Each time I got alumni mail, I had to call them up, ask them how they got my address, demand that I be taken off the list (again). More than once, I had to get counseling, take leave from work and even move.

After the last alumni mail, I reached out to a fellow survivor who recommended that I seek an injunction from futher contact from the school. When the school refused to reveal how they got my new address, I sent the headmaster a stern note advising him that the school has ignored my previous demands to be removed from the alumni mailing list.

In March, 2009 , that note resulted in the Headmaster calling me. He sounded very anxious and pleaded with me to take a meeting with him. When I asked why I should agree to the meeting, he said that he wanted to help. I had reason not to trust him, so declined. He called me the next day and offered to fly out to meet me. He sounded more anxious. I reluctantly agreed to this meeting against my better judgement. I didn't know yet that my initial instincts were spot on.
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