Out of the Orchard

Karen Marie Dion was used to thinking the worst about herself. Almost everyone else in her life would tell her how worthless she was. She eventually began to believe them.

As a child, Dion's life alternated between joy and sorrow. When she got to spend time with her grandparents and young uncles, she felt like part of a loving family. When she was sent home to her parents, she was subjected to a myriad of abuses stemming from their resentment and strange spiritual beliefs. Even after she had come of age, the love Dion sought in marriage eluded her. Her husband was just like her father and was struggling with his own set of demons. Learn just how Dion found a way to walk away from this agony and step into the light.

Dion's story details many different types of abuse, including physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual. She hopes her work can serve as an inspiration for others in similar situations. Because of these experiences, she became an unwitting activist against abuse, as chronicled in the second part of Out of the Orchard: The True Story of Me.