There were, however, laws prohibiting cruelty to animals. After repeated failures in her efforts to seek justice for Mary Ellen, the determined Wheeler took her case to Henry Bergh, the founder of the ASPCA, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Bergh and his organization won protection for Mary Ellen by arguing that a child was, in fact, a member of the animal kingdom, worthy of the same protection under law as a dog.

Despite national outrage over the case, the commotion quickly died down and people once again closed their eyes to the problem.

Shortly after the turn of the century, public recognition of child abuse faced another setback when renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud publicly theorized that his patients’ claims of childhood sexual abuse were merely repressed fantasies.

It wasn’t until the early 1960s, nearly a century after the Wilson case, that the medical profession formally agreed upon the existence of child abuse.

While the world debated whether or not child abuse existed, thousands of children carried horrible secrets and scars, both physical and emotional; because no one would believe or protect them. Many of them ran away from home.

Grace is the story of one of those children.

Epigraph

“It were better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck, and he cast into the sea,
than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

LUKE 17:2

Grace

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL

By Hans Christian Andersen

It was Christmas Eve, and from the brightly lit windows of the town square came the sound of laughter and singing as people celebrated the holiday. Outside, the snow-covered streets were deserted except for the poor little match seller who sat alone beside a frozen fountain. Her ragged dress and worn shawl did little to protect her from the cold. She hadn’t sold one box of matches all day and she was frightened to go home, for her father would certainly punish her. She was so cold. If only she could light a match, she thought, but she knew her father would beat her for wasting.

She resisted until it was too cold to bear any longer. She took out a match and lit it. She magically saw in its light a large stone hearth with a brilliant fire. Beyond the hearth was a fine table laden with food. As she reached out towards the table, the match went out and the magic faded. Her eyes filled with tears.

She struck another match and an even more wonderful vision appeared. Before her was a Christmas tree hung with hundreds of candles, glittering with tinsel and colored balls.

“Oh, how lovely!” she exclaimed. Then, the flame flickered out. The light from the Christmas candles rose higher and higher. Then one of the lights fell, leaving a trail behind it. “Someone is dying,” said the little girl, remembering what her beloved Grandmother used to say: “When a star falls, a heart stops beating!”