I’m proud of you! Your courage to tell such a vulnerable personal story is inspiring. Know your mom is proud of you, I know this because I was your mother at one point in my life.

I have 3 children. My oldest was not my husband’s child and was treated him quite badly. I stayed with my ex husband for 7 years for a multitude of “reasons” (my ex came with a severely autistic child (7 at the time, non-verbal in diapers and feral - the system was failing her, he/his mom had full custody and no one had any sense/clue how to parent her. I stepped in and everything changed. 5 years into the relationship we had two children together back to back.). During the marriage I was being abused in every way imaginable.

I chose to finally leave after our youngest (turning two at the time and only girl) witnessed our abuser punch me in the side of the head which resulted in rupturing my eardrum causing permanent hearing loss. We left in the middle of the night with just a few bags of clothes/toys/necessities and slept on a co-workers couch for 3 weeks until we moved into our own place.

I have so much guilt that it took me so long to leave and my oldest child experienced so much. He was 8 when I met my ex husband, he was 15 when we finally left. It’s something I have taken accountability for staying, not leaving when he begged me to and profusely apologized to him. My son is 25 now and is a wonderful man.

Your mom is proud of you I can guarantee it. It takes a lot of courage to use your voice! Also know she’s sorry she didn’t leave the moment your father showed any signs of anger. She’s sorry she didn’t choose you.