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This has to be read in its entirety to appreciate the roller-coaster of a childhood these children must have endured. One likes to believe that one would have twigged so much sooner that they did, but then one must consider how implicitly and deeply one trusts one's parents as a child.
Long & Thoroughly Bonkers Tale:
http://www.bbc.com/news/stories-42951788
Pauline Dakin's childhood in Canada in the 1970s was full of secrets, disruption and unpleasant surprises. She wasn't allowed to talk about her family life with anyone - and it wasn't until she was 23 that she discovered why.
There was always something unusual about Pauline Dakin's family.
"My brother and I would say, 'What do you think is wrong with our family? Why are we so weird?' But that was the mystery that just didn't get answered."
Pauline's parents, Warren and Ruth, had separated when she was five, the summer before she started school. Warren, a successful businessman, was a heavy drinker who could become violent and a point came when Ruth just couldn't take it any more.
When Pauline was seven, Ruth took the children on a holiday to Winnipeg, more than 1,000 miles (1,600km) from their home in Vancouver. But when they arrived Ruth told them they were never going back.
"There was no opportunity to say goodbye, it was just this abrupt, severing of relationships," Pauline says.
There was always something unusual about Pauline Dakin's family.
"My brother and I would say, 'What do you think is wrong with our family? Why are we so weird?' But that was the mystery that just didn't get answered."
Pauline's parents, Warren and Ruth, had separated when she was five, the summer before she started school. Warren, a successful businessman, was a heavy drinker who could become violent and a point came when Ruth just couldn't take it any more.
When Pauline was seven, Ruth took the children on a holiday to Winnipeg, more than 1,000 miles (1,600km) from their home in Vancouver. But when they arrived Ruth told them they were never going back.
"There was no opportunity to say goodbye, it was just this abrupt, severing of relationships," Pauline says.
Long & Thoroughly Bonkers Tale:
http://www.bbc.com/news/stories-42951788