Nowhere But Up Quotes

“To my abusers: I forgive you.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“Those that are the hardest to love, need it the most.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“Oh my God ... YOU are real.
Oh my God ... You ARE real.
OH MY GOD ... You are REAL!
Oh my God ... You're really real!”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“My spiritual high naturally dissipated. At some point you've got to come out of the clouds and live real life. Again, it's just like falling in love. The feeling of euphoria is only temporary.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“Those who are hardest to love need it the most”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“For the most part, each day listed a different rendition of "Justin ate well" and "Justin took a great nap". Every now and then they noted Justin doing unusual things, like biting. I was embarrassed to read "Justin is biting his friends again" or "Justin did better with biting and only bit one boy". Other than that, though, my son was a pretty happy-go-lucky kid.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“By the time I got to the phone and dialed John's number, I was out of breath with excitement. "You are not going to believe this," I blurted out.
"What's the matter?" Hr sounded concerned.
"Are you sitting down?"
"Yeah, sure, Pattie. What's wrong?" God only knows what John was thinking at this point.
"GOD IS REAL!" I practically shouted in his ear. I waited for John to react in a dramatic way, almost disbelieving way. I expected him to say, "No way! C'mon! Get out of town!" After all, I thought I was telling him something he didn't already know, something that would turn his world upside down like it did mine.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“One fleece down, one to go.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“Go to the beginning.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“I spent years wrestling with darkness and drowning in torment, and I’ve spent most of my adult life sifting through the tangled web of emotional wounds and the debris left by the darkness in my childhood. I’ve hobbled back to the early years of my life, painfully resting at the different events that shaped me through my childhood. And I’ve learned that sometimes you have to go through your past to get to your future.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“Knowing I experienced violence even before I made it out into the real world disturbs me. It makes me think I showed up instantly unwanted. I mean, seriously, what kind of warm welcome can await a baby coming into a family filled with physical abuse? It seems my future was marred from the start.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“Damaging feelings don’t just show up out of nowhere. They’re birthed from experiences, from moments that wield the power to shape us. Sometimes we can’t even recognize the magnitude of those pivotal events until years later.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“As an adult, I’ve grieved not having had my dad around to call me princess, to tell me how beautiful I was and to threaten the boys I dated. I’ve mourned the loss of not having a dad I could curl up and feel secure with. A dad who would teach me how to be a self-respecting woman. A dad who would remind me that I was valued and worth more than perhaps I believed I was.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“Trust is broken when someone you know, someone you are supposed to feel safe around and with, does things and makes you do things that hurt, that feel wrong, that confuse you, that are perverse.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“By the time most kids are speeding down the street on a bike with training wheels, the doors of sexuality were swung open in my life, revealing to me a world full of shame, manipulation and selfish desire. A world I didn’t know how to escape. Sex followed me, lurking in dark corners waiting for the perfect ambush. My longing to be loved made me easy prey.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“There was an obvious connection between my abandonment issues and the sexual abuse. On one hand, I craved physical affection, not in a perverse way, but as a form of pure, unconditional love. On the other hand, I still guarded my heart and was adept at unplugging when things got distressing.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom

“It's hard to be vulnerable in front of the whole world because everyone's a critic.”
― Pattie Mallette, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom