Dear Beautiful One, I sit here and begin to wonder what’s actually going through her head at this very moment. Are you like I was? Are you feeling afraid, angry, depressed, heart-broken, in physical pain, embarrassed, lonely, confused, hopeless, or…
In October 2017 I celebrated my 60th birthday. Within 60 years I have experienced every type of abuse one could imagine: physical, sexual, psychological/verbal, the destruction of property/pets, financial, and spiritual. My childhood was riddled with experiences that I viewed…
The Lie: You are too far gone; you can never come back. She’s still there. That girl you used to know, that girl who you admired and loved? She’s still there, inside of you. That girl who was courageous, and…
Dear friend, I am a survivor of domestic violence. I didn’t know that I was being abused because my definition of abuse looked different. My husband pushed me and other seemingly small physical acts. Most of my suffering was verbal…
Dear friend, fellow survivor, and future advocate for justice, My history with domestic violence started at a very early age. I grew up in a small town of Anderson, SC and I had to witness my mother being beaten almost…
Dear friend, The pattern of relationship violence began early for me. Starting with an abusive ex-boyfriend in high school, I fell into one abusive relationship after another as an adult, never quite sure how to end the abuse or who to reach out…
When I first sought counseling from Safe Harbor, I felt alone and hopeless. I was four years into a bad marriage that I truly believed would only end when my husband either killed himself or killed me. I was anxious,…
I wish I could answer the questions in your mind. For you I wish that I could turn back time. I wish I could fix that man you love. And make his heart soft and pure as a dove. I…
Dear WOMAN-Rising, Our past paths are similar, dear one, we have been unmade in a way that most individuals cannot comprehend. It was and is still unnerving, painful, and terrifying at times. Let me tell you, the most important thing…
To a suffering woman, I remember once also feeling unable to talk to anyone about my painful secret, but spending hours reading on the internet about domestic violence. I wondered, “Is this really abuse?”, and then, “Can an abuser really change?”,…