Kindle Edition Amazon Amazon Brinda Carey-Butterflies and Roses Category:  Memoir Publisher: Blue Morpho Press Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 256 Copyright: October 2011 ISBN-13: 9781939800015 Price: $3.99 (eBook) A personal story of survival and recovery from child sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. Inspirational messages of hope and healing. This book will not be easy to read. It is not a cozy, friendly little book meant to cheer you up and brighten your day. It is, however, a starkly true story of what happened to a little girl born in Texas in 1960. Brinda Carey’s first 22 years were an unimaginable hell – unimaginable, that is, to those of you who haven’t had your own version of that hell. Sexual abuse and manipulation by a monstrous father and a descent into the emotional wasteland of promiscuity are just two of the hallmarks of that inferno. Can anyone ever recover from unrelenting sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents? Brinda Carey did. Her message of hope and renewal is for every abuse survivor living alone with her pain – and it’s for everyone who wishes to know about the resilience of the human spirit and the power of love and forgiveness.       Excerpt No girl imagines that at the age of sixteen she will be at the funeral of her first baby. I know I certainly didn't. Even after years of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, I had decided that my life could not possibly get any worse. But I was wrong...again. When I think about it, I can see and feel it just as it happened. Too weak from postpartum hemorrhaging to stand, I sit in the back seat of my dad's car and stare out the open window at the cemetery. December in the open expanse of the Texas panhandle allows the frigid wind to blow unfettered. Clutching a blanket tighter around my shoulders I fight the urge to fling it over my head and hide. A familiar feeling of loss, pain, and disgust settles in my chest and prepares to stay awhile. A small, somber group of people huddle close together; the ice beneath their feet crackling and dead leaves crunching with every movement. I feel totally detached from the black and gray hues of emptiness. It is just me and a tiny white casket. I wonder at how my son, born dead after several hours of labor, could fit inside this beautiful satin covered bread box. The cold numbs my face and I worry if he is clothed or wrapped in a blanket. I hope someone held him reverently while gently placing him in a comfortable position for the long winter sleep. How would he have felt in my arms? Could he possibly know how much I loved him for the past nine months? How much I love him now and will forever? I wish I could have seen his face at least once to place a kiss upon his cheek. A shiver envelops me as I sit on the cracked vinyl seat with frozen tears on my face. The open window frames the scene being played out before my eyes like a bad movie with the volume turned down. The distorted words bounce off my mind without being recorded. The birth of my baby plays over and over in my head along with the word “Why?” In the delivery room, I remember how the baby laid on my abdomen while the doctor cut the cord. My vision was distorted by the gas given to me for anesthesia, but his little leg comes briefly into focus before a nurse is taking him away. I am relieved that this part of delivery is over and I smile in anticipation of finding out if I have a daughter or a son. “What is it?” I manage to ask. Speaking in hushed tones which I cannot decipher, people are busy over in the corner with my baby. Then a voice softly says, “It’s a boy.” I have a son! Wait. Why isn't he crying? What are they doing to him? My heart beats wildly in my chest as I desperately try to see my baby. “Why isn't he crying?” When no one answers, I raise my voice asking again, “Why isn't he crying?” “Oh, Honey, your baby is dead.”

Story of Hope
June 12, 2012
By Mary Moore
This review is from: Don't Cry, Daddy's Here (Paperback)
I had the extraordinary honor of reading Brinda's book, Don't Cry, Daddy's Here, a couple months ago.

I am a sexual abuse survivor and I was only 6 or 7 months into my healing journey. I picked Brinda's book up with caution; not sure if I was in any position to read the details of her heartbreaking story. At the same time, I was compelled to take the risk if there were even a slim chance that I would find a reflection of hope for my life through hers. I realized within moments of reading that I was in no position to do anything but continue. What I discovered within the pages of Brinda's book was infallible hope and so much more. I could have never been prepared for the changes that took place in my heart because she spoke out.

I was at a place of complete chaos in my mind. By the time my mother, and 6 other men over a span of 7 years, got done with me, I didn't recognize the truth anymore. As I read Brinda's memories I began to recognize I wasn't alone; the same type of manipulation I experienced, guilt I took upon myself, confusion I felt, and loss of all identity, security, purpose, competence and sense of belonging. I found validation, hope, encouragement, and truth in her words.

Brinda wasn't afraid to tell everything; the details that make some people cringe, the details that cause the pain of others like her to emerge, and the details that so many try to sweep under the carpet as though, over the years, the fine remnants wouldn't surface through the fibers of the abused soul. This woman courageously wrote the words that would do one thing for sure, impact lives.

You won't be sorry that you picked this book up. Open your minds, allow Brinda's journey to touch your heart in whatever area you need to be ministered in.

Thank you Brinda.

Had Me in Tears
ByBooks4Tomorrowon September 18, 2012
Format: Kindle Edition
I'll admit that I read this book by recommendation from a friend and out of morbid curiosity. Incest - a word I hate. No matter what images the word conjures in my mind, I couldn't even begin to imagine what a sexually abused child must've suffered - and by the hands of her father no less. Having lived a sheltered life, such a thing for me is hard to imagine, but the truth is that it does happen and in "Don't Cry, Daddy's Here" Brinda doesn't only share her experience of what she suffered at the hands of her father, but takes the reader back with her in time to her childhood years where it all started and then tells it like it is. No sugarcoating. No excuses. Nothing. Just an earnest, straightforward, no-holds-barred, retelling of the shocking events in her life - but with the voice of a survivor.

For me Brinda's story is a heartbreaking one, but also one that inspires. While reading this, I didn't feel like a reader, but rather a companion on the author's emotional journey down memory lane, and then her amazing journey to acceptance, forgiveness and moving on. It will make you cry, it will break your heart, make you feel angry, and unleash a volley of emotions at the thought that a father could do such despicable things to his daughter, without an ounce of remorse. I admire the author's courage to open her heart on paper and share with the world her lost childhood, and I applaud her for her strength, perseverance and honesty.

This is not only a book for victims of incest or sexual abuse, but also for those of us who need an eye-opener to the fact that some parents and trusted family members can betray a child's trust and take away their innocence in the cruelest of ways. A lot of helpful information, photos, contact details and inspiring quotes are included in this book. I want to thank the author for allowing me an intimate look into the life of a child being violated by a loved parent


Powerful and Encouraging
ByKarenon February 18, 2012
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
I just finished this book, and have to say that I was blown away by the author's willingness to share her story with all of us that need to know there is hope. We are raising a teen that has been terribly abused, and this book is full of insight, explanation and references. This book has shown me the emotional upheaval that comes with abuse and a better understanding of our teen's challenges. Thank you Brinda for your bravery and honesty. You are the perfect example of how someone can turn horror into a wonderful opportunity to witness and reach hurting souls.