A Child is Torn: Innocence Lost (25 page)

Epilogue

This author has always been intrigued by the Nature versus Nurture argument. It is as profound to me as which came first—The Chicken or the Egg? Where do our personalities come from?
I have often wondered why children being raised in the same home by the same parents will have totally different demeanors and personalities. Some researchers claim that the answer lies in the order of their birth. Others insist our eating habits and the chemicals that are being injected into our food sources have some responsibility.

Why then do twins—whether identical or fraternal—develop completely different talents and personas? Or why do identical twins who have been raised apart and not even knowing of each other’s existence tend to be attracted to the same type of partner, enjoy the same hobbies, dislike the same foods, and in some known cases even give their children the same names? Is it coincidence or is something more mysterious at work here?

How can some children like Liz Murray who was raised by dysfunctional and mentally ill parents go from homeless to Harvard? While others who come from a seemingly normal life develop mental illnesses or criminal behaviors? I am sure you, the reader, have often pondered this in your own lives. We all know children who have caused their parents such heartache and parents who have tried to beat down their children’s spirits by horrendous physical and mental abuse only to produce successful and happy adults.

Can we inherit from our DNA something that can become a stronger force than years of love and nurturing? Can one gene that has been dormant for generations suddenly turn up and turn the most innocent newborn into a monster as the years go by? Should we all take a good look at our future mate’s family history before we decide to marry and have a family? Will science in the future help us determine if someone’s genetic makeup will produce a Jeffrey Dahmner or Ted Bundy and we can avoid the horrors and heartache that these type of individuals cause?

Maybe one day we will have the answers and mental illness will be a thing of the past, but until then we will just have to continue to ask the question: Which is the more dominate factor in contributing to who we are—NATURE or NURTURE?

About the Author

Dawn Kopman Whidden is a native New York author who grew up in the close-knit community of Little Neck Douglaston during the baby boomer era. She graduated from Queensboro Community college.

Twenty years ago, she traded in her days of living in the bustling city for a more serene and tranquil life on a small farm in the town of Bell, located in North Central Florida.

She is retired and shares her life and love with her husband of fourteen years and an adopted stray dog she named Casey. She has also been blessed with two beautiful grandchildren.