So Rare - A Different Kind of Memoir

Introduction and Disclaimers

Note: PLEASE do not skip; the disclaimers and information I'm including in this introduction are extremely important to the nature and truth of the story. THANK YOU.

If you've decided to read my story, first and foremost I'd like to say thank you. This story is still a huge work in progress but it's a project near and dear to me considering it's based on true events.

I began working on this piece as a way to cope with certain traumatic events in my own life. Though my story is a heavy one, I'm hoping that by publishing it here, perhaps someone will feel represented or seen in the way that I have yet to.

The idea for this story manifested from the guilt I felt upon finding out that my perpetrator had a spouse and family. I know that what happened was not my fault, which is something that writing this story has helped me realize. The idea was to write from the perspective of my perp's wife so that I could write as a character to sympathize with my experience and that could help me look at my experience from an outside perspective. So this piece is written not from my perspective, but from hers. Jade is my character representation, not Elle.

Disclaimer #1: I was never given explicit information on my perpetrator's family, so any information regarding Elle or the kids is purely fictional. (And of course the names have been changed for privacy purposes.)

Disclaimer #2: Many events in this story have been fictionalized for creative purposes considering the perspective shift. Most details of the case are true, but things like the Deputy's role in the story, the trial itself, and certain pieces of evidence that come up were added in for believability. My case still hasn't been addressed as far as I'm concerned (it's been a year) so anything past involvement of police is also fictional. But PLEASE feel free to reach out if you would like any further clarification.

Trigger Warnings: This story calls for a large-scale trigger warning given it's extremely sensitive subject matter. A central topic is sexual assault, so if that's something that's triggering for you, this story may not be right for you. It also deals with themes of violence, physical abuse, adolescent grooming, and statutory rape (pedophilia). Please let me know if I've forgotten to mention anything potentially triggering, thank you!

Once again, thank you to anyone showing interest in my story. It's so important to me to put my story out there and shine a light on the countless other women who have faced issues like sexual assault, domestic violence, and an unfair lack of legal prosecution against harmful people. These people are so important that are seldom represented without stigma. Thank you again and happy reading!