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Instead of becoming her protector, however, this man became the girl’s worst nightmare. She soon realized his true intentions.
This man was a pedophile who would move her from city to city, in and out of boarding schools, year after year, throughout her teenage years. He would threaten her with reform school if she tried to run away or contact her mother. The only way out, she thought, was education and her God-given talent for painting.

The darkness of those years followed her into adulthood as she married a young man who continued the abuse. At the age of 30 and a mother herself, her coping mechanisms collapsed, and her marriage ended in divorce.

There was simply no more hope. The only way out at that point, she thought, was death. So she attempted suicide.

Finding hope and healing

It was then, at the darkest point in her life, that Atherton-Rodrigues found a light. The man who had claimed her teenage years had sent her to Lutheran and Catholic boarding schools where she had been taught about God.

“As I bottomed out and pushed everyone away, I only had God to turn to, and He was there,” Atherton-Rodrigues said.

Reaching out to Him, her spiritual journey began. Through counseling, self-help programs and the support of a spiritual mentor, she was on the road to recovery. The healing process took time, and Atherton-Rodrigues credits those years to her ability to draw and create beautiful paintings from blank canvases.

“Art became my escape. It took me out of the past; it took me out of the future and kept me in the moment.”

Doctors at Connecticut’s Trauma Initiative, of which she is a member, wonder why she has survived when she should’ve been in a mental institution. She answers them with a smile: “God is the key.”

Moving on

Elizabeth Atherton-Rodrigues and current husband Gus moved to the Garner area a couple of years ago from Connecticut.
She currently participates in the training of professionals who treat people suffering from trauma and wants to expand her speaking platform to encourage art and healing in Wake County.
Gus is a huge supporter of his wife’s work and encouraged her as she worked on the project.

“He was incredibly helpful,” she said. He wanted to be involved, so he built the frame, did the gold leafing and did the finishing touch-up work. He is proud of his wife’s accomplishments but even more proud of the reason behind the work.

“She does it for the joy it gives her heart and soul,” he said.