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Gertrude Baniszewski: You know what it's like to be sick, Sylvia. I've been sick for so long, too. I can't... discipline my kids they was I should. I punish them I know, but... sometimes with my medicine I gets so I don't know what I'm doing.
[begins to cry]
Gertrude Baniszewski: And I care for them so much. Paula, the thing is... Paula's a lot like me. I had her when I was just about your age. Then Stephanie. Then all the others. Then John left... And here I am on medicine, doing whatever I can to keep my family together. I want something better for Paula... There has to be something better... And I need to protect my children...
[cries]
Gertrude Baniszewski: Do you understand that? You kids... you're all I've got... Thank you, Sylvia. Thank you for understanding, thank you.
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Sylvia Likens: She sacrificed me to protect her children, and she sacrificed her children to protect herself.
James Meehan
Extended Reading