Seneca Falls, N.Y. - The author of a poem about bullying that has gotten national attention is sharing her story about why she wrote the poem.
"I could probably title (the poem), 'That Little Girl," says Lynda Frederick about the words she's written which have gotten so much attention.
In the front yard of her home in Seneca Falls Saturday morning, Lynda read aloud a few passages from the poem she recently posted on the Facebook page of her high school class reunion.
"That little girl who came to school with clothes she wore the day before, instead of asking why, you picked on her," she read.
"This woman has grown up now, however, the little girl inside still cries because her childhood was shattered because instead of asking why, you picked on her," the mother of three continued.
Lynda knows the power of words all too well. She wrote these words about the California High School she graduated from in 1987.
"When I left california in 1987, 25 years ago, I swore I'd never go back," she explains.
The 42-year-old swore she'd never go back because of how painful reliving those years at Orange Glen High School might be.
"The words hurt a lot, they (the kids at school) tried tripping me, they spat at me, they threw rocks at me," she recalls.
Lynda says she wrote the poem to help encourage her teenage daughter to stand up for herself after she recently started getting bullied at school.
"It has still stuck with me and watching my daughter go through it now it's just bringing up the memories," Lynda adds.
Recently though, word got out about Lynda's poem after she made the Facebook post and now former classmates and even former tormentors have helped raise over $800 to fly her back to California in July for her 25th reunion.
"It feels like a load is just being lifted off of me... The ones that are truly sorry for what they've done, I can tell because of what they're doing for me."
