When I first arrived back in the United States, as I met people during the course of casual conversations the common questions were: Where do you live? What do you do? How long have you been here?
It was hard to cover up that this California girl had lived in the Middle East for nearly 25 years.
One question would lead to another and before I knew it, I was sharing that in the summer of 2009, I engineered an international escape from the Middle East to save my 20 year old daughter and myself from domestic violence.
The casual conversation quickly turned into a dynamic one with a bombardment of questions and curiosity.
“Oh my God! You were so courageous! You’ve got to write about your story. It should be made into a movie!”
I heard that same exclamation hundreds of times over the years.
But I was afraid to share my story publicly.
Until nearly eight years passed, when I decided it was time to write my memoir.
Actually, I’m writing the memoir with my daughter.
We want to give people the perspective from the point of view of a wife, mother and a child.
To show them what really happens behind the four walls, and how domestic abuse destroys not just the family, but human lives.
It’s a challenge to write the memoir, as you can imagine.
I have to pull up painful memories, and I can only do that if I’m healed enough.
Sometimes I am healed enough, and sometimes I’m not. When I’m not, it sends me down a tailspin and I zone out. Sometimes for an hour, sometimes for a few days.
But I am not writing the memoir to get my story out.
I’m writing this memoir to help others.
To help and give hope to victims who are in an abusive situation and don’t know they’re in it (like how I was for 18 years of marriage), for those who are in it and know it, for those who got out but don’t know what to do, and to help victim’s families and friends gain a deeper understanding of what has happened to their love one so they know how to be more supportive.
And for the person who reads it, and realizes he’s an abuser, and recognizes he must change his ways to save his family, like some have told me.
You will be getting glimpses into our memoir, 11 Hours to Freedom as I will be sharing bits and pieces of my story as the months go along.
In the meantime, if you or you know of someone who is struggling with lack of confidence, or afraid to speak up, or afraid to get into relationships, or doubts herself, or has other lingering after effects of being with an abuser and wants to get her life back on track to regain her voice and confidence then go to www.TheLoveisKindNetwork.com grab the free gift, sign the Love is Kind Pledge and send me a note through the contact form. I’d love to hear from you or your friends.
Together we can make a difference.
Let’s make 2019 a year of true liberation.
Love is kind, not terrorizing.
You deserve to be treated with kindness, and that starts with treating yourself with kindness.
