“I’ve been to my mom’s grave twice. In 20 years. You won’t find a single photo of her in my home. I know this wasn’t her fault. It doesn’t change the effects her illnesses have had on me. None of it changes that her 60th birthday is not a birthday at all, because she is dead. I want to honor her, I really do. But I can’t face the woman who tried to break me.”
‘At 13, there was blood on the counter, a strange calm on my mom’s face. She tried to get help.’: Woman candidly shares effects of mother’s suicide, reminds us ‘healing comes in waves’
‘My marriage reared it’s ugly head. I was at a fork in the road. I could leave and save myself heartbreak, or I could stay.’: Woman finds ‘strength’ to divorce abusive husband, admits there’s ‘beauty in vulnerability’
“I never planned on writing my story. While I was more fearful of the future than I care to admit, I remember leaving the courthouse the day I filed for divorce feeling like I could breathe for the first time in years. It was the feeling of freedom. For years, I allowed the world to wash over me, resigned to the lies I’d been told about who I was, who I wasn’t, and who I could never be. On the hard days, I have to remind myself to call these thoughts what they are: lies.”
‘While driving, I saw him text a girl, ‘I miss you. I can’t wait for her to move out so we can be together.’ I was livid and shaking.’: Woman leaves ‘narcissist’ husband after years of ‘manipulation and lies’
“Within a week, he went from saying he loved me to telling me, ‘You realize I don’t care about you, right? I want to make sure you know that.’ He mentioned he was going to start seeing others. I said, ‘Pardon me?’ My head couldn’t grasp what was going on around me. I couldn’t believe this was my life.”
‘Who wants a single mom with a deformed monster?! NO ONE!’ Pregnant at 18, my abortion was the next day. A flip switched.’: Mom raises son with missing limbs despite abusive partner’s pressure to terminate pregnancy
“Pregnant at 18? Hard. Finding out your baby has no arms or legs? Earth shattering. I tried to distance myself from my baby, but I woke up screaming, holding my belly. I would give birth to a vegetable. As I laid there, it hit like a thousand ton of bricks. I screamed to my baby boy that I love him, and I just wanted to do what’s fair for him.”
‘I made the decision to cut my mom out of my life. Now that I’m a mom, I wish she was there to guide me. I wish my children knew her. But I know she won’t change.’ Mom explains heartbreaking decision to protect her kids
“There were no I love you’s. I remember her spending a lot of time in bed, flying off the handle easily, expecting a lot out of everyone while she gave the minimum. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Was she a drug addict? Or was she just a bad person? I vow to give my children everything my mom could not give me.”
‘I no longer speak to my mom. Every day, I wonder about her. I look in the mirror and see her staring back. But I have to choose me over her.’
“Every day, I’m reminded that I’ve never felt the love of a mom. I know if I open the door to her, she’ll destroy me and all the progress I’ve made. I’m hurt and sad, but I’m also better off. You do not need to have a toxic person in your life just because you share DNA.”
‘My phone rings. ‘I don’t have time for this. I need to get my kids.’ Then my mouth dropped. We were greeted by 2 officers as we drove down the long gravel driveway.’
“I had already popped a bunch of pills and drank a bunch of Vodka. ‘I want to see him!’ I screamed, shaking profusely. My mom said, ‘No, you don’t. He shot and killed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun in his mouth.’ I look at my phone. It reads, ‘I love you.’ 6:24 pm.”
‘This will be the last time we see each other,’ she said, tears in her eyes. I looked at her, puzzled. ‘Don’t be so dramatic.’: Woman overcomes years of emotional abuse
“On my wedding night, she grabbed me by the shoulders. “I looked at her, puzzled. I’ll see you tomorrow at the house.’ Little did I know, these words were going to be our last. She decided to go out with a bang, turning what was supposed to be a joyous day into a painful one. She couldn’t bare to see me happy.”
‘He lit my insides on fire. So, I did it. I married him. My body signaled that something was off. I pegged it as nerves. I didn’t know about the pools of women.’ Woman breaks free from abusive relationship
“It was the same with everyone. The same love songs, the same pet names, the same date night spots, the same EVERYTHING. In a ten-day period, he cheated with 3 people. He played it off as him being drunk and stupid. I believed it at the time. I didn’t tell friends or family. ‘If I can’t even make a marriage work, what else will I fail at?!’ I kept it private, until things began to boil.”
‘I laid in my hotel room bath, sunk my head underwater, closed my eyes. I wondered what life would be without me in it? I cried.’: Woman stresses importance of mental health awareness after abusive relationships, suicidal thoughts
“He’d be on dating apps talking about the women he’d hooked up with the night before. I still loved him. I’d confront him. ‘Why do you do this?’ It would always escalate into a big argument. Our neighbors called the police to our house because of the noise.”
