I Don’t Hate You Mama

I Don't Hate You, Mama, a moving and very revealing memoir about childhood physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, is author Ray Lawrence's legacy to his family, and to everyone who has struggled to overcome the scars of their own mistreatment. The child of an overbearing and controlling mother who harbored deep resentment toward everyone unlike herself, a woman who exerted absolute and negative power over her hapless son, Lawrence somehow managed to survive. The father of eight, he found himself repeating his mother's patterns and made a life-changing decision: accept his history of abuse and protect his children from its affects on their father. What sets this memoir apart from so many dealing with abuse is the author's ability to forgive, to release his mother from blame and therefore lift that weight from his shoulders. In so doing, he has moved forward and become a successful husband and father. The hope and faith he expresses will encourage others to rise above their pain.

Ray Lawrence is the father of eight, married to his wife for forty-eight years. A tradesman after his decade in the United States Navy, the author is now retired.