“The moment I saw him, I instantly fell for his trap. My eyes met his, and I was immediately hooked. My friend leaned over and told me his name. ‘He’s a cop. He’s well known around here.’ He said they called him the ‘King.’ All hail the King. Our hands met, then our lips, we were inseparable from that night on. His neighbors warned me. They told me to run.”
‘His hands were like the devil. They dragged me down to hell to become his mistress. I wasn’t ready to die.’: Woman declares her abuser ‘no longer has power over me, I am a survivor’
‘Having sex with you is like a chore,’ he said to my face. ‘I saw the messages. You can’t lie to me about it. I even took a picture.’: Young woman escapes gaslighting abusive ex, ‘I got my light back. I have nothing to hide’
“It was like fate he left his phone there or else I never would’ve found out he cheated on me with his ‘lesbian’ best friend. She was younger than me, blonde like me, had the ‘spark’ of energy I used to have. She was shiny, new, full of life. As I laid there contemplating what to do, the first thought that ran through my head was, ‘He’s going to be mad I went through his phone,’ not, ‘I need to leave him. Now.’ I later learned he was still contacting her. I was done.”
‘6 weeks pregnant with our surprise third baby, my husband of 7 years packed his bags and left me.’: Woman empowered to embrace single parenting after husband leaves her during pregnancy, ‘You are worthy. I finally believed it.’
“My face was red and my eyes were swollen from sobbing. When we were good, we were great. When we were bad, we were absolutely volatile. She dropped the inevitable bombshell. ‘Where do you think this is coming from?’ ‘What he put me through,’ I replied. ‘Deeper, Amber.’ It hit me. There was no miracle. Our marriage was over.”
‘I messed up my eyebrows so bad I drew them on for years. I shave my face and toes.’: Woman shares candid truths about her insecurities to encourage others to live authentically
“I feel like I don’t financially contribute enough to my family. I yell. A lot. I talk to God every week, but I haven’t been to church in years. I dye my hair when I’m feeling stressed.”
‘I cooked, I cleaned. I was a nurturing, good woman. Yet still, I was not enough for the wrong man.’: Woman urges ‘never settle for anything less than you deserve’
“I cooked when I was asked. I cleaned dirty breeches, dirty dishes, and everything in between. I was loving. I was patient. I tried to look as pretty as I possibly could. I was forgiving. I was ENOUGH. I was more than enough. But for the wrong man, it did not matter. You may be the rib, but a rib cannot fit comfortably in a body it was not designed for.”
‘When he hit me the first time, I fought back like an animal. Until I had to decide if I wanted to be the woman who fought back or the woman who lived.’: Woman details journey through physical, emotional abuse, ‘I have an incredible life now’
“He showed up at my house. I was convinced I was going to die. I was obsessively checking my yard each morning for rat poison in case the dogs went out. I was afraid. Afraid I’d have to fight him off. I just wanted to be strong enough to survive. When I realized I could deadlift his body weight, I felt less afraid.”
‘You get the first puff.’ 3 men stood there, staring at me. I smoked something I hadn’t paid for, and now payment was due.’: Woman overcomes ‘nightmare’ crack cocaine addiction, ‘We can overcome the most tragic lives’
“Within weeks, my antique jewelry was gone. The horror was so awful, the things that went on. I remember begging her not to make me go into the room with them. She said, ‘It’s about to get real,’ and then she was gone. I found a single, unused stamp. I used an old envelope from an overdue bill and a scrap of paper to write the only family who would still listen. They lived 3,000 miles away. I wrote 5 words: ‘GET ME OUT OF HERE.’ That was 13 years ago.”
‘I fell pregnant. I was livid I wasn’t able to drink those 9 months. ‘I can’t wait to get drunk again.’: Young mom credits newborn son for sobriety despite drinking on maternity leave, ‘He’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me’
“‘You’re boring. Stop trying to change me.’ I broke up with him. Then I found out I was pregnant. Baby was born by emergency c-section. I thought I was going to die. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t wait to get drunk again. My son was 10 weeks old, it was my birthday, I celebrated HARD. I couldn’t move the next day, couldn’t even change his diaper, so sick. Maternity leave became wine o’clock. I’d count down the hours to 5 p.m. I was now a grown-up drinker, a mom. Wine to relax with my baby, that’s normal, right?”
‘Girls, stop rushing to get your life started. Marrying the right man matters. You glow brighter when you’re loved properly.’: Woman re-marries, urges ‘do not follow society’s timeline, follow yours’
“The girl on the left lacks confidence. She’s hived up, feeling like she’s running out of time. Even her smile is nervous. She’s marrying the only man she’s ever known, but her gut is telling her something isn’t right. The girl on the right? Her posture speaks volumes. No hives. She knows her heart is safe and she is loved. Too many girls are rushing this life and ruining theirs.”
‘She was 50 pounds lighter. She looked like she had it all, but was an absolute wreck inside.’: Woman loving life 50 pounds heavier, ‘I sleep next to a man who loves the soul within my body’
“She walked to class day after day conscious of how she carried herself, hoping to draw attention from the athletes. She’d come home from another expected night of being taken advantage of and destroy herself — she was too fat, too quiet, too loud — too much, yet not enough. She fell into the arms of men who only loved the body she hated. Now, I sleep next to a man who loves the soul within my body.”
