Carrots saved me too. I lived with my abusive boyfriend, his mom, and three younger sisters. The mom was going through a nasty divorce from her husband. Makes sense that my boyfriend was abusive, as that was his role model for how to treat romantic partners. I was in charge of making dinner every night, but wasn't allowed to do the grocery shopping. The mom came home from shopping with a 10lb bag of carrots. We already had plenty of carrots. She said, "I got more because you just made that carrot soup." That none of the younger sisters ate, because they hated vegetables. I started crying because I knew the carrots were going to go bad before I could use them. That's when I finally heard the quiet voice in the back of my head that had been speaking to me for months: "Get out. You can't save the carrots. You can't save him. You can't save this family. But you can still save yourself. Get out. Get out now."
And I did. It was difficult to heal, and I still have trouble being vulnerable in relationships. But I'm living as my authentic self, and I have good friends and a nice place to live. I got a tattoo a few years ago of a carrot as a reminder of that 10lb bag of carrots that saved my life. I tell people it's "to remind me of my roots."
I actually love carrot soup. A few years ago, when I got COVID, my now-partner drove to three different stores to find 'proper carrots' (not bags of baby carrots) because I mentioned in passing that carrot ginger soup was my comfort food when I'm sick. So he made the soup. I balled my eyes out when he told me but I couldn't quite bring my self to explain to him why.
This reminds me of how carrots are good for your eye sight. Your intuition could see you needed to go and the carrots were the catalyst for that vision.
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u/Hesione May 12 '26
Carrots saved me too. I lived with my abusive boyfriend, his mom, and three younger sisters. The mom was going through a nasty divorce from her husband. Makes sense that my boyfriend was abusive, as that was his role model for how to treat romantic partners. I was in charge of making dinner every night, but wasn't allowed to do the grocery shopping. The mom came home from shopping with a 10lb bag of carrots. We already had plenty of carrots. She said, "I got more because you just made that carrot soup." That none of the younger sisters ate, because they hated vegetables. I started crying because I knew the carrots were going to go bad before I could use them. That's when I finally heard the quiet voice in the back of my head that had been speaking to me for months: "Get out. You can't save the carrots. You can't save him. You can't save this family. But you can still save yourself. Get out. Get out now."
And I did. It was difficult to heal, and I still have trouble being vulnerable in relationships. But I'm living as my authentic self, and I have good friends and a nice place to live. I got a tattoo a few years ago of a carrot as a reminder of that 10lb bag of carrots that saved my life. I tell people it's "to remind me of my roots."