The Journey

"I can be empathetic of his trauma while holding him accountable for the decisions he made. After all, he could have made different ones." The empathy I have for others is a blessing and a curse, or so I used to think. My empathy has always been what I have considered to be one of my greatest qualities. It allows me to…

"I yelled. I screamed. I said awful things. I broke things. I slapped him across the face on two different occasions. I pushed him. I slammed doors. I teetered on the edge of despair and outrage every single day." I have thought long and hard about this particular post. It requires a level of vulnerability and honesty that is downright uncomfortable. In…

"Maybe I needed to hear it wasn’t my fault as many times as he had told me it was my fault. Maybe I needed to hear it even more times than that, but after hearing it over and over again like a broken record, I started to believe it." Throughout my marriage and since my divorce, I have been plagued with at…

"It was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had in my life. We talked. We shared. We hugged. We entered into an unspoken sisterhood. They have forever changed my life." I can still vividly remember walking up to Bolton Refuge House's front doors feeling as though my stomach was in my throat. I had never shared my experiences with…

"In war terms, he was planning a sneak attack, where he would ambush my defenses a little at a time until there was nothing left." One of the most profound things I have ever done thus far in my life was getting up in front of a room full of strangers and sharing, in agonizing detail, what happened to me. It was…

"I wanted him to feel powerless, scared and as though he may die at any moment and there was nothing he could do about it. I wanted to take away his power so he knew exactly how it felt." I started to see a licensed clinic social worker to address my nightmares specifically. Finding a therapist is a lot like buying a…

"We need to send a message to all victims and survivors: You matter and we believe you. You deserve to feel safe and loved." For me, the nightmares are one of the worst components of PTSD. When I am awake, while I still struggle, I have more control over myself. When dreaming however, I have no control. It doesn't matter how far…

"I felt relief. Relief. Relief that as I sat there, crying, make-up streaming down my flushed face, eyes swollen and red, snot running from my nose, I was me for the first time in a long time. Don’t get me wrong – I was a hot mess, but I was me." I think one of the most important things I have learned…

"He is the doer of the bruises, of the pain, of the parts of my life that will never be the same, yet somehow I am the one wading through the aftermath while he feels validated – as though he is the victim." There are still days I wonder why he gets to go on with life like nothing happened when my…

"And I am deeper in my hole and beginning to be buried by shame. It’s dark. It’s scary. It’s physically and mentally painful – and it’s an all too familiar home. I’ve visited it many times." It's a knot in my stomach so tight it feels like a medical emergency. It's nausea that rises to the top of my throat and stays…