i was married to him for eight years.
i made two children with him.
i divorced him, and he tried to kill me.
i have daughters that never suffered at his hand, and i'm proud of that. i have a career and a good one, i'm proud of that as well. i also have a failed marriage, a messy divorce and post-traumatic stress disorder. those don't make me proud, but they are indeed part of who i am now.
nothing is easy when you have confronted your own mortality in such a violent way. and then, once you've finally come to terms with the fact that you have survived, there are presentence investigations and charges pled away to nothing and the endless confusion and loneliness that the legal system inadvertantly puts victims through.
it's not their fault, we just aren't their priority.
it's all slow. the whole thing. and even when it's done, sentencing finalized, department of corrections on the line for a transfer, it's a slow fear wondering what will happen ... when he's free again.
this is what i'll do with my time, compile what i've learned. maybe help someone else not feel quite so alone as they pace the hamster wheel of justice and pray with each step.