Article July 5, 2004 Issue

I refused to let rape change me

By Kate Dearborn

As A Kid growing up in northern California's San Francisco Bay area, I was shy, not sure of myself. Even at 20, I didn't have much of a sense of self-worth. I was dating an aspiring rock musician at the time, though, and enjoyed being in the music scene background.

Both my friend and I worked at a catalog showroom retail outlet. We left work at 9:00 in the evening and frequently would go straight from the store to his band's rehearsal. By around 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, the rehearsal would have wound down. We often hadn't eaten since dinner, so my friend and I would drop by a Denny's restaurant on EI Camino Real to be silly for a while and get something to eat before he took me home.

In the middle of one of those early mornings at the restaurant, I went to the ladies' room. As I walked into the restroom, a man who had been hiding just inside grabbed me from behind. He held a knife to my throat.

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