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In Hindsight
Rising after domestic violence
No matter how you look at it, domestic violence is traumatic. My experience began in an early marriage from ages 19 to 22. The effects of this type of experience never leave you, but how you deal with it afterward can be profound.
People don’t like to read about domestic violence because it’s uncomfortable. Of course, those who haven’t experienced it will sometimes have an opinion that’s not always comforting.
Interestingly enough, one of the photos listed on an obituary site of my former father-in-law was a family picture that included me (cropped above) which I found odd. It’s no longer on the site. My son, who is now in his 40s, found it. Seeing my face in the picture brought back some of the nightmarish memories and I could see the pain in my face and the early desire of wishing I dared to escape earlier than I did.
It won’t be hard to condense a three-year experience. Some of the dramatic events magically disappeared from my mind. It’s like being shielded from the depths of the emotional and physical pains like the time I was punched in my solar plexus. When my abuser told me I would have the physical scars to serve as reminders of the marriage, he was correct. He told…
