Butterfly Den: Learning to Live Again

   *Possible Trigger- This story depicts very graphic descriptions of domestic violence. I wrote this because October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and there are countless people living in situations like this, their homes are battle zones never knowing when the next strike will happen. It is not as simple as just being done with your situation, saying you are done is the first step, but you have to have a safety plan to get yourself and your children free from the abuser. It is never okay to tell a person living in this situation to "Just leave", you don't know the threats and the control the abuser holds over them. It is important to develop a safety plan, the most dangerous time for a person in a domestic violence situation is when they are trying to get out. If you know someone in this situation there are resources that can help, call your local domestic violence shelter for information on filing protection orders, safe places for the victims to go, and how...

     I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror today and I was almost shocked at the woman staring back at me. Seven months ago I never would have thought that I could be doing what I am doing now, hell I didn't think I could do anything at that point I had been beaten so far down from the person I was. For everyday the last nine years I have been battling the monsters inside me that try everyday to take me from this world, to take me away from my son who needs me. Up until September I thought those were the only monsters in my life, I had been blind to the fact that a real life monster slept under the same roof as me everyday. I was too afraid of the diseases taking me, too afraid of losing my son to let myself accept what was happening to me. Everyone tried for so long to help me see reality, but it wasn't something that could happen until I realized how far it had gotten, how far I had fallen, and in the end only I could be the one to stand back up and fight for both ...