The hushed cries of a young girl who endured years of emotional and physical abuse from her father and three older brothers, followed by an abusive path of self-destruction throughout much of her adult years, have been confronted.

Today, that young girl, Meridian resident Dorthea L. Hughes-Williams, has replaced those cries with a hopeful outlook on life fueled by a simple, yet empowering motto: “The best is yet to come.”

Much of Hughes-Williams’ healing can be attributed to her recently released book, “Hushed Cries: Healing is Found in the Choices YOU Make,” which has been described by critics as an “honest, vulnerable, yet ultimately victorious memoir about surviving child sexual abuse.”

“I want people to open their eyes to when a child acts out; there’s something there,” said Hughes-Williams, who explained her book’s title is derived from responses she received when she sought help from others.

“Everyone I went to, cried to, told me to ‘Hush,’” she said.

Book signing

• “Hushed Cries: Healing is Found in the Choices YOU Make” is published by Morgan James Publishing. The book is available through Amazon.com, at Barnes and Nobles Bookstore and DortheaHughes.com.

When: Friday, from 6-9 p.m.

Where: Connor Young Building, 412 26th Ave. (downtown)

Additional info: Cost of book, $22.95. For more information, contact Dorthea L. Hughes-Williams at DortheaHughes.com

“Hushed Cries” is based on Hughes-Williams’ childhood in Kewanee, Ill., where she and her family lived in a house located at 909 Dewey St. Abandoned by her mother on her 6th birthday, Hughes-Williams was left to be raised by her alcoholic father and brothers.

“The abuse started after she (her mother) left,” Hughes-Williams said. “My dad had a history of sexually abusing different members in her family. When she found out it was true, ultimately she walked out the door and left with us. Two days later, me and my youngest brother went back to our father. Then my father went to pick up our mother to bring her and my other brothers back home. The next day was my birthday and when I came home from school, she was gone for good.”

Hughes-Williams’ years of molestation began with her older brother, then a neighbor’s son. At age 8, she was molested by her father and her abuse continued until her early 20s. From there, she found herself going down an all-too-common path of self-destruction.

“I was a very, very bad child,” Hughes-Williams said. “I was a juvenile delinquent. I fought people, I fought other kids all the time; I was very hateful and mean, I was not friendly. People on the outside saw I dated a married man – I was 13, he was 27 with three children and a pregnant wife. I did a lot of bad things and people sort of wrote me off because I did those bad things.”

Hughes-Williams’ memoir is the result of the advice of a counselor, who challenged her to do something that had been suggested to her for a number of years.

“People had been telling me all along, ‘You need to write this (your life story) down, not just for you but for other people as well.’ But I wasn’t really interested in that,” she said “In 2011, I was going through a really hard time and ended up having to go see a counselor. The counselor told me to go home and write down my thoughts about my childhood in a notebook.”

Instead of a notebook, Hughes-Williams composed her thoughts on her laptop. She completed the task in 30 days and placed the manuscript on a shelf in her closet, where it remained for four years.

“I really had no intention of publishing it,” she said. “It was just an outlet for me to give my past rest.”

However, while trying to establish Brighter Day Outreach Center, a facility destined to provide a safe haven for local children experiencing the same abuse Hughes-Williams endured as a child, she was prompted to use her story as a financial foundation.

“When I found out how hard it is to get grants, one of my coworkers said to me, ‘You know you’ve got that book. Why don’t you publish the book?’” Hughes-Williams said. “It was then that I realized that if I published the book, I could use part of the proceeds to start my foundation.”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Hughes-Williams is in the initial stages of establishing her foundation, which she hopes will not only provide abused youth a refuge but also equip them with coping skills.

“When I was younger, there was really no place to go, a safe place,” she said. “I want Brighter Day Outreach Center to be set up as a place for youth when they really need someone to step in and help. When I was growing up, my brothers and I never called where we lived ‘home;’ it was just a placed where we lived. I want to have a safe house and call it The Hughes House because I want to abolish those memories people had of our house in Kewanee and what me and my brothers experienced. I want to make it something positive.”

Through her painful journey, Hughes-Williams has emerged a survivor. Now 46, she has earned a master’s degree in business administration and is a vocational instructor at Lost Gap Correctional Facility and a motivational speaker. Most importantly, Hughes-Williams is the mother of four: LeShauntae Hughes Moore, 26, Angelique James, 24, Adam Williams Jr., 19, and Arthur Williams, 17; and two grands, Devin Moore, 2, and Diamond Moore, 7 months.

Hughes-Williams said composing her thoughts about her abuse was helpful in many ways.

“People tend to think that because the abuse stops, everything is over; but it’s not,” she said. “The decisions you make every day are based on your life experiences. As I wrote, it brought everything to the surface and helped me to not only see who I am, but why I am the way I am. And I don’t make apologies for it anymore.”