Annette C. Cox
Giving honor to
GOD who is the head of my life, thank you Lord for leading me, guiding me, and
never leaving me. “I LOVE YOU LORD”.
And to family,
friends, and foes, thank you for your support.
Giving honor to
GOD who is the head of my life, thank you Lord for leading me, guiding me, and
never leaving me. “I LOVE YOU LORD”.
And to family,
friends, and foes, thank you for your support.
Hey Lil Girl: Going From An Unwanted Girl To An Unstoppable Woman
By Annette Cecelia Cox
— Autobiography
I never asked for the darkness that raised me. But it found me anyway.
If you’re holding this book, I need you to understand something before
you open it: nothing in these pages is softened, polished, or made pretty for
the world to swallow. I lived a childhood where most people wouldn’t survive,
and for years, I carried the little girl inside me like a ghost I couldn’t put
to rest. She whispered. She cried. She begged me not to forget her.
So, I didn’t.
This book is her voice… and my truth.
These chapters are the rooms I once hid in, the secrets that lived under
my skin, the screams nobody came to answer. I learned early that love could
wound, that silence could suffocate, and that some of the people who should
have protected me were the ones I needed protection from.
But I also learned how to rise.
You will walk with me through the shadows I grew up in — and then you
will watch me drag myself into the light. Not because someone saved me, but
because I finally saved myself.
If you choose to turn this page, don’t expect comfort.
Expect truth.
Expect pain.
Expect a little girl who refused to die and a woman who refused to disappear.
This is not just my story.
It is my survival.
It is my becoming.
And once you meet the girl I was… You will never forget her.
By Annette Cox Thank you for choosing to read Hey Lil Girl.
This book is more than a story—it is a testimony, a conversation, and a reminder that healing is possible, even after a lifetime of pain. As a motivational teacher and speaker, my heart is rooted in helping women find their voice again, reclaim their worth, and understand that their past does not disqualify them from purpose. If any part of my journey resonated with you, if you saw yourself in these pages, felt understood, or felt encouraged—I want you to know that you are not alone. As a former resident of a domestic violence shelter in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and a current employee of Quigley House Domestic Violence Shelter, as a “Child Advocate”, I have the experience in life and work to provide a safe way to deal with trauma. I welcome all interest, whether for motivation, encouragement, speaking engagements, workshops, discussions, or personal outreach connected to the themes of this book. I hope that this story continues beyond these pages and becomes part of a larger conversation about healing, faith, survival, and growth from girlhood into womanhood.
Minister annette C. Cox
My name is Annette Cecelia Cox, and my story did not begin in
comfort, safety, or protection. My story began in shadows I did not choose, in
childhood I had to survive, and in a world where love was often a stranger and
pain knew my name before I even knew myself.
I grew up in a home where there was chaos, where survival was a language,
and where silence held more secrets than words ever could. I was just a little
girl—small, tender-hearted, and searching for something soft to land on—when
life taught me that not every adult is a protector and not every home is a
sanctuary.
Every chapter of my life carries a lesson.
Every wound carries a story.
Every survival carries a purpose.
Today, I stand not as the little girl who was forgotten, ignored, or
unprotected. I stand as the woman who saved herself.
A mother.
A survivor.
A storyteller.
A voice for the voiceless.
I wrote 'Hey, Lil Girl' not to revisit the pain, but to reclaim
it. To show that healing is possible. To tell the little girl inside me — and
every little girl who has ever been silenced — that survival is not the end of
the story. Freedom, healing, and identity live on the other side of truth.
I am Annette Cecelia Cox.
These are the pieces of the life I lived.
This is the childhood I survived.
This is the woman I saved.
And if my story reaches the heart of even one person who feels forgotten,
then everything I endured has a purpose far greater than the pain.
Call Us
904-236-8068
Location
Jacksonville, Florida
Email
heylilgirl@yahoo.com
