We are so sorry, Romi

Romi- while reading your story, my heart couldn't stop skipping beats. I forgot to breathe all the way through.

We see you standing in that filthy bathroom, feeling the weight of all that was being done to you, looking through the crack of the window to the blue open sky, the chirping birds and recognizing "the dissonance of the beauty of life and the filth in the bathroom."

Former h*stage Romi Goren went on to say in the interview about her time in G*za, "I'll never forget it. I reached the lowest point possible. When he left the bathroom and I followed, I suddenly heard ringing in my ears and couldn't hear anything. The world felt like it was spinning. All I thought was, 'Romi, everyone in Israel thinks your're d*ad, and you're going to be a s*x slave in captivity."

You can read or watch the details of the rest of Romi has testified in the news.

The acts of s*xual assa*lt and harassment that was done to her by her H*mas captors.

The vulnerability. The brokenness. The paralyzing fear.

I'll leave that for Romi to tell you in her own words.

I'll just say this to Romi--

You survived.

They stole from you.

They hurt you.

They tried to break you.

But we never forgot you.

We have loved and missed you every day that you were gone.

We prayed for you and thought of you and cried out for you.

And while you were in that bathroom, or lying on that mattress, or being moved from place to place-

We were looking for you.

Weeping for you.

And I'll be honest- what you are detailing is what we all already suspected.

We had nightmares about what was happening to you.

Our urgency was laced with all the images you describe before you even had to tell us.

To hear that it was all true, in the way that this happened to you, we can never forgive ourselves for.

We can never forgive them for.

We are so sorry, Romi.

For everything that has happened to you. For everything you now have to carry.

But we are here to listen.

To support you.

We see you.

We know your truth.

And now you are home.

You are a survivor.

You are courageous.

and you are loved.

Now it's time for the world to know the truth.