Thank God my parents died - Judith van Tonder 

This memoir of hope is the account of child abuse spilt over onto paper. Judy was born in South Africa to addictive parents, kidnapped at age 6. As she takes her final trip with the train from the Children’s home, into ‘freedom’ she remembers her ordeals of all the types of abuse she endured in her 18 years. Hope for her as an abused child, as she cried hungry or beaten, came to her in the form of her imaginary ‘spirit flies’. Just little lights of hope she held onto until she found the burglar bars formed the cross of Jesus when you looked at it as she did.
Van Tonder hails from Pretoria, South Africa. The middle child to her parents she hardly grew up with. She found escape from her crushing past by applying love to all she did in her future, trying not to lose hope. Inspired by a negative history she became an activist for all innocent children with abusive backgrounds. She worked for South African Airways, holds a diploma in Aesthetics, holds a diploma from Bible school, cooks like a chef because she wants to, paints acrylics and watercolour, loves life with laughter and wrote this memoir of hope. She now resides in Dallas, Georgia, which is a town on the outskirts of Atlanta in the United States of America. For more information or to buy her book visit www.judithvantonder.com or to book our presenter www.lornagreyling.com