UnErased w/ Trish Lacy: You Don’t Get The Rest Of My Life (Season 1 Episode 10 (Finale) )

So before anybody decides what those tears meant, let me tell you, I didn't cry because I'm bitter.

I didn't cry because I still have feelings for my ex, and I certainly didn't cry because I want that life back.

I cried because telling this story out loud, it really did feel like walking back into a time machine, if that makes sense, into a nightmare I worked so hard to escape.

And I cried because every episode forced me to relive things, to hear in my own voice what I had allowed myself to go through, things that I had minimized, things that I had explained away, and things I had somehow learned to call normal just so I could make it through another day.

And yes, some of those tears were for my daughter.

They came from remembering things that I didn't protect her from as well as I know I could have, even though I know I did the best I could with what I understood and the strength that I had at the time.

That's a hard truth for a mother to say out loud.

So some of my tears were shame.

Like, how did I stay that long? How did I accept so much? How did I become so quiet in my own home? But some of those tears were also gratitude.

Gratitude that we got out.

Gratitude that my daughter is finding or has found her voice.

I'm so proud of her, y'all.

Um, gratitude that the woman sitting here today can finally look back at the woman that was and say, "You didn't know how you were gonna make it, but you did." So when you saw me cry, you weren't watching a woman longing for her past.

You were watching me face it.

You were watching a mother grieve it.

You were watching me rise from it.

So this season began with a woman disappearing inside her own home.

Tonight, it ends with that woman looking directly into this camera and saying, "You don't get the rest of my life.

You may be part of my past, but you will not remain the epicenter of my story.

You may have taken years away from me, but you don't get my future.

You do not get my joy.

You do not get my daughter's voice, and you do not get to decide how this story ends." That's what we're talking about tonight.

So let's talk about this season.

If you've been here from the beginning, first, I just wanna say thank you.

Dr. Cox in the corner, in the bottom, I wanna say thank you so much for believing in me, for making sure that I- you gave me the platform to share my voice and share my story, and realized the bigger purpose behind Erased In My Home.