Thanks to my mother, I learned a valuable lesson early on the subject of abuse. At 6 years of age I found myself under attack nearly every day. A bully would hide behind any one of many trees, in the park I had to walk through to get to school. I never knew which tree he hid behind, to pounce on me. He really was not much bigger, though imposing, and I became intimidated—easy prey.
My mother accompanied me to the edge of the park one morning waiting to see what came next. Sure enough, after I walked 50 yards or so, out popped the bully. My mother yelled, “Give it to him Tony!” To my own amazement I knocked him down and he never bothered me again! That lesson has carried me well and given me fortitude to stand up to intimidation at the crossroads in life.