As some of you may or may not know, I was involved in a domestic abuse situation about six years ago. Honestly, almost every day was a nightmare. Nothing goes right when you let someone else take over your life.
I think it was the lowest point in my life. I was estranged from my family. FYI: Abusers will isolate you from everyone that cares about you, including parents, children, friends and co-workers.
We moved out of state because I wanted to get him away from my kids. He believed me when I said I wanted to move. I knew that I was coming back without him but I wasn’t sure how or when I would leave. I didn’t feel like I could really trust anyone to help me. If I had to do it over, I would have found help somewhere closer to home. I think I was afraid that the hold he had over my life would not break if he was close.
We didn’t have any money and were about two days from having our own cardboard box. My plan seemed to be falling apart, except that he was away from my kids.
Did I mention that I was about five months pregnant? The saddest thing I’ve ever seen besides abused children are homeless children. It was heartbreaking to see children in that situation.
Anyway, I decided to leave him before I gave birth to a child that would be homeless. I waited until he fell asleep at 3 a.m. I grabbed the car keys and my suitcase and left.Luckily, I had enough gas to make it to the airport.
I went back home with the help of my mom and her friends.Otherwise I would still be sitting in the Tampa International Airport.
How do you repay someone for their generosity? How do you show gratitude for their forgiveness? I’m still working on repaying my family. I do appreciate them so much for helping me put the pieces back together.
Photo from http://www.juxtapost.com
Link to Safe Horizon: http://www.safehorizon.org/index/what-we-do-2/domestic-violence–abuse-53/domestic-violence–abuse-shelters-340.html
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