Reading Time: 3 minutes
As a general rule, if a member of an abusive cult who is also a CSA survivor expresses that she feels “so sorry” about your childhood, your childhood probably sucked.
Well, Jill Duggar read Collin Gosselin’s explosive memoir.
And yes, she feels “so sorry” for what he went through.
Both of their families were TLC spectacles. Both of their families had a lot of children. And both of them went through hell.
She ‘had no idea how bad it really was for you’
Collin Gosselin shared an Instagram post, which we have included below, thanking fans and followers for the outpouring of support.
One of the most conspicuous likes and comments on the post came from none other than Jill.
“Listening to your audiobook now,” her comment began, featuring a red heart emoji.
“I’d heard a little about y’all’s fam & firsthand experiences from our overlapping film crews,” Jill admitted.
“But,” she wrote, she “had no idea how bad it really was for you. So sorry.”
Jill’s comment was responding to Collin’s memoir, In the Shadow of Eight, and came directly under his post.
“The outpouring of love and support since the release of In the Shadow of Eight has been more than I ever could have imagined,” he began.
“To everyone who has read the book, shared it, reached out, or trusted me with your own stories, thank you,” Collin expressed.
“Hearing from so many of you has reminded me that none of us should have to navigate these experiences alone,” he affirmed.
“What means the most is knowing that these conversations are happening,” Collin wrote, “that survivors are being heard, and that stories once kept in the dark are finally being brought into the light.”
‘I admire and look up to you’
“I wrote this book in the hope that my story could make a difference beyond my own life,” Collin explained.
“I’m committed to continuing to advocate for survivors,” he emphasized.
Collin expressed his desire to “stand alongside those still finding their voices, and help create the change these stories deserve.”
To his fans and followers, he added: “Thank you for being part of this.”
Encouragingly, he concluded: “We’re just getting started.”
“Thank you Jill,” Collin wrote as a reply.
“I admire and look up to you,” he expressed, “and how you’ve spoken about your experiences.”
Collin added: “Also, I am reading your book right now.”
Most of his siblings and most of hers have not chosen to pen memoirs about their traumatic experiences. But Collin is not alone, and neither is Jill.
And, as Collin in particular has repeatedly highlighted, their experiences are not unique. It’s just that most children who grow up in their predicaments don’t do so on reality TV while the world watches — and does nothing.
