“I think it’s vital that survivors live openly. Living openly means that you drop the secret, but you are free to do it in your own time and your way because when you’ve been living with it for 20 – 40 years the way that you have, it’s hard to change those habits. When you’ve been carrying a secret, for so long, many parts of your life have been slightly tweaked or contorted to where you don’t even realize it. It can affect healthy intimacy with the ones that you love, or how you engage with your friends. Once you let go, you can breathe and let your guard down a little bit more and enjoy life.”