Thicker than Water: A Memoir

by Kerry Washington

We were not a family that made special time to “talk” unless something was wrong. Those conversations were few and far between. And when the accommodations to talk had been made, it was never good news.

When I was a child, things were different for me at night. At night, I tossed and turned, knowing that something was not quite as it seemed and that things were happening that were dangerously wrong. With the day’s performance over, the curtains

My parents did not trust me with their painful truths and I, in turn, learned not to trust them with mine. Not out of resentment or anger, but simply because the withholding of truth and the avoidance

But shielding me from learning the logistics of self-care meant that I had been groomed for success, but not self-sufficiency. For some reason she didn’t feel she could give me both.

Deep

I desperately wanted to work as an actor, but I felt unworthy of success as a star because I felt more comfortable hiding behind my characters. I wanted people to love the characters, but never felt able to make them love me.