“He lied to me more than once. He talked about his ex-wife regularly, and he attacked and criticized my feelings. But at that point, we were already in love. My friend then told me, ‘I just described your boyfriend.’ Talk about a mic drop.”
‘Want me to hook you up with him?’ Feeling repulsed, I said, ‘Um, no. Why would I want to do that?’ Talk about a mic drop.’: Friend’s advice helps woman leave unhappy relationship, ‘Guard your heart’
‘I let my boyfriend keep me from my husband. I dated a man for years who never intended to grow with me, invest in me, or build with me.’: Woman urges ‘the right man will waste NO TIME’
“When my husband-to-be messaged me, I told him straight up, ‘I’m looking for a husband not a boyfriend.’ I was days out of my last relationship. I was tired. 5 years with 2 men who saw no value in me left me drained.”
‘His opinions became my own. ‘You need to figure out who you are.’ I was terrified of being alone.’: After toxic relationship, woman turns to yoga, ‘I finally know who I am’
“‘What did I do wrong?’ It took many years to learn about that question. To say I was crushed is an understatement. I was numb. My ex-boyfriend was trying to teach me all along. Be selfish.”
‘Tonight, my boyfriend said ‘thank you for cooking’ after I put frozen chicken strips in the oven.’: Woman urges ‘it’s never too late to find someone who appreciates you’
“One time, I spent 3 hours cooking an extravagant meal for a man only to be told, ‘I don’t really like that. I think I want Wendy’s tonight.’ It’s never too late to find someone who appreciates you, who you can appreciate back. WAIT for what you deserve.”
‘I used to tell people I didn’t believe in abortions. ‘It’s a baby! Murder!’ And then, my boyfriend died. You don’t know until you know.’: Woman struggling with grief says ‘I was faced with an impossible choice only I could make’
“After Jamie died, I found out we were expecting. We were pregnant. Only the ‘we’ was just me now. No one told me not to do it. No one tried to make me feel bad.”
‘I know you beg him to stop. I know you think you can love him hard enough he won’t hurt you anymore. One day, sweet girl, there won’t be a next time.’: Domestic abuse survivor shares powerful testimony for fellow victims, ‘Run and don’t look back’
“One day he’ll kick you so hard it will crush your chest. One day he’ll pin you in the shower while you cower in the corner, begging him not to hit you. One day he’ll push you down on the floor with all his weight, and you’ll realize you can’t defend yourself. One day, it will be absolutely too late.”
‘I’m not in love with you. I haven’t been since you got pregnant.’ He didn’t shed a tear. He turned his back and went to sleep.’: Couple learn to peacefully co-parent after separation, ‘Our love for our little girl comes first’
“‘I was waiting for the right time to tell you.’ It was 2 a.m. on a Sunday night, our little girl sleeping so peacefully on my chest. Memories of our honeymoon, our wedding anniversary just weeks before crowded in on me. How long had I been living a lie? I remember wishing I could tell him to get out. I was paralyzed. He turned his back, went to sleep as I lay awake, sobbing. Every night, I’d dream about hurting him. I had so much anger hidden away, I was afraid I’d explode.”
‘While sobbing like a teenager who was stood up at prom, I finally found it. I am fighting for my sanity and for my life.’: Woman diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder says ‘you are not alone’
“I woke up on Sunday like normal. I had broken plans with my boyfriend earlier in the week. We were supposed to go to a friend’s house to watch the Super Bowl with them. Out of nowhere I started feeling SO guilty about not being there. And it happens. I break.”
‘I found you barely breathing. Lifeless, sleeved roll up, hunched over, gasping for air. I shook you and shook you. I was numb.’: Woman’s bittersweet realization loving heroin addict ex-boyfriend, ‘saving you will always be my best decision’
“I was so focused on not letting heroin kill you, I almost let it kill me. You pushed through to one year sober. But you decided to share that milestone with someone else. Forget about me and our life together. After everything we went through, you cut off communication with me through a text. You told me you were seeing someone else through a single text. That was all I deserved to you. ‘We can’t do this anymore.’ That was the most I could get out of you.”
‘When my boyfriend broke up with me, I had the strangest reaction. I was relieved. I literally thanked him.’: Woman ‘gave up’ on distracting herself with relationships, ‘I am living whole and free for the first time’
“I really loved him, so I was caught off guard by my own response to him ending our romantic relationship. ‘Wait, shouldn’t I be sad? Shouldn’t I be crying or something?’ My dating self was cool, sexy, and mysterious. I knew how to seduce and intrigue men. I played the game well.”
