Dear Tony

First Letter, Ages 5-10

Dear Tony,

My name is Sutton Love, I'm 28 years old, and I feel oddly obligated to tell you my life story, seeing as you're a factor to my happiness. Let's get this over with, Shall we?

Like I said, I'm 28 years old, but in all those years, I've been through a lot. Let's start at the beginning, Age 5. When I was 5, my parents got a divorce, and my dad moved out and into a single room apartment. My little sister and I had to go over to his house every other weekend, from Friday night to Sunday morning. At this time, we still went to church on Sunday mornings. It wasn't really that bad at first, but it was kinda boring.

When I turned 6, my mom had to go back to work, so when my sister and I got home from school at 3, we were at home alone for 2-3 hours on good days. By the time I was 7, I knew how to make kraft mac n' cheese and lemonade, which we had for dinner everyday for almost a year, when I learned how to make spaghetti and buttered noodles.

For 2 years, my little sister and I ate pasta that was made by a 7/8 year old. I also learned how to tuck her in at night, then how to turn off all the house lights before going to bed myself, because our mother was 'too tired' to do anything herself.

I went back and forth between my parents houses like I would normally, but then things started to go downhill. At age 9-ish, my father got remarried, and started verbally abusing me. I'd walk in the condo they bought together and he'd say right off the bat, "Sutt sweetie, you could loose some of the snacks," or "Why's there a pig in the house?"

This continued on for just about a year, when I stopped eating, in hopes to loose weight so my dad wouldn't make fun of my size anymore, but then he would taunt me about how much I wasn't eating, asking if I was an anorexic freak.

But, One week before my 11th birthday, shit hit the fan.

Till next time,

-Sutton