Dear Rev Mother,

AT last I’ve got up the courage to write to you. I went into your care in hospital when I was very young. I remained there until I was 20. I often wonder why you and all the sisters were so cruel to us as children.

We were punished very hard, endured cold baths and food badly cooked, especially stewed liver. (I hate liver).

When we got sick, you held our nose and made us eat it. Why did you beat us so much and drill it into us that we were cripples, and no one would ever want us? The terrible names we were called, but we knew your secrets in the parlour! You know what I mean.

Anyway, I have forgiven you all. You have to live with it. I took myself in hand, got work and met a young man who never noticed my disability. He loved me for me. I have lost him after 44 years of happiness, but I have a lovely family who have big jobs. So you see I did amount to something.

You did destroy lots of people’s lives. What you did not know was we ate food such as chocolate and so on at 2am while we sat under the bed with a flash lamp. We were supposed to fast from midnight to receive next morning. You told us Holy Communion would not come to us, so we took our chances. So God did not mind.

The worst you could have done to punish us was turn off the radio as we all loved it but we never let on. I could go on forever but I have no chip on my shoulder. Forgiveness is good but it’s hard to forget. But you all have to live with it.

It’s five o’clock in the morning while I was reading the Sunday Independent. I feel I had to write this letter. It feels good to write. Thank you to the Sunday Independent for giving us the chance to say what I feel. Maura Name and address with Editor