Wednesday, October 8, 2014

You are worth more

Late July of 2013, a dear friend of mine lost his youngest sister, Amber, to domestic violence. 

She was in her 30's with two small children.  These boys will now have to live their life without their mom... or their dad.    

A week after Amber was reported missing, her husband was arrested and charged with her murder.  This last week his trial began.  You may check out the details here.  (warning: some of the testimony revealed gruesome details.)  It may sound more like a CSI episode than real life, but I assure you, it is real.  The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison.

A few days ago, while this trial was going on, there was a post to My Diabetes Secret that hit way too close to home.  The lady talked about hiding her diabetes.  She also addressed another poster who had wished they had an abusive father or boyfriend instead.  She stated that she was in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend... 
"It's not easy to leave and go get therapy due to so many different factors.  Most people in abusive relationships never leave and sometimes end up dead over it."
Domestic violence has a huge ripple effect, often larger than we can fathom.  Amber's boys will no longer have their parents.  Their children will not have her as a grandma.  Her siblings no longer have a sister, and their children no longer have their aunt.  Her friends, her coworkers, her neighbors, everyone she touched is affected by this.  Even those who didn't know her personally, but are friends with her siblings, are affected.  The ripple effect is far reaching.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.  If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic violence, please PLEASE speak up and seek help.  No one should ever have to live in fear in their own home.  YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN THAT.   You can get out. 
 


 

2 comments:

  1. This is a very powerful message. I feel like sometimes people feel that going into life unprepared and alone can be worse than the predictable, yet abusive, lifestyle.

    I haven't been in such a situation myself, but when faced with a decision (which could be as minor as "should I change this possibly bad infusion set or wait and see"), I ask myself "if I were to look back at my decision in 2 days/2 months/2 years/20 years, would I be happy with the choice I made?" It helps me to do the right thing rather than the easy thing. I hope those who are in a domestically abusive situation will say something and do something to make their 20-year-older self proud. Don't set yourself up for regret...or something worse. Speak up.

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    1. Scott, that is an excellent way of making decisions. I can't count how many times I've heard, both on TV and in real life, "If I could back and do things differently I would." I hope that those who are in abusive situations find the courage to speak up, and have a true loved one speak up as well. None of us are alone.

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