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Ina Garten<\/strong><\/a> is opening up about her childhood.<\/p>\n The 76-year-old celebrity cook opened up about suffering physical and emotional abuse from her late parents, Charles<\/strong> and Florence Rosenberg<\/strong>, for the first time in her memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens<\/em>, out on October 1.<\/p>\n In a conversation with People<\/a><\/em>, she spoke about being afraid of her father, a surgeon, who would hit her and pull her hair if she did something he disapproved of.<\/p>\n Keep reading to find out more\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was terrified. I was physically afraid of my dad. I literally remember thinking he would kill me if I did something. I was physically afraid of him. And my mother just was unsupportive,\u201d she said, adding that her brother Ken<\/strong> was also a victim of their father\u2019s anger.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a threat of violence, you\u2019re always afraid, even when it\u2019s not happening. So I basically spent my entire childhood in my bedroom with a door closed. I think it was just protection. It was just to keep myself safe.\u201d<\/p>\n She also called her mother controlling, and said that while her bedroom was her \u201csafe haven,\u201d it was decorated in peach and white even though she wanted it purple, because her mother told her it would \u201cturn out badly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was something she said to me a lot,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if she was diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s [Syndrome]. She really didn\u2019t know how to have a relationship, which is why I think, as I\u2019ve gotten older, having relationships is so important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything changed when I met Jeffrey<\/strong>,\u201d she went on to say of meeting her husband.<\/p>\n After four years of dating, the two married in 1968. <\/p>\n \u201c[My mother] thought I was too young to get married, but it was the first time in my life when I just said to her, \u2018I know you don\u2019t think this is a good idea. And for the first time, I\u2019m really sorry to tell you this, but I don\u2019t care. I\u2019m doing this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ina <\/strong>says she made peace with her father later in life, but never reconciled with her mother. <\/p>\n \u201cHe, in his own way, apologized and my mom never acknowledged it. I think I overcame my childhood just by sheer determination. I just wasn\u2019t about to spend my life like that. And I think, a lot of times, people make a decision to live their lives differently and they end up sliding back into what they feel is familiar and I was determined not to do that. And then I met Jeffrey and he just showed me a totally different way to live.\u201d<\/p>\n She also explained why she doesn\u2019t want kids.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n