15.
“I hadn’t been happy in years. The children and I walked on eggshells around him; he borrowed money and didn’t pay it back and tried to isolate me from my family, including saying my mother couldn’t visit anymore. I had been raised to believe that nothing was worse than having children come from a broken home, so I stayed because I thought it was better for my kids. That changed one day when, while undergoing treatment for breast cancer, one of my kids showed me messages on my ex’s laptop (which my kid had been using) between my ex and a sex worker.”
“He refused to discuss it, and I had a moment of clarity that the stress of dealing with him was what had made me sick and that if I stayed with him, I would die. I’m not religious, but it’s the closest I’ve ever come to hearing the voice of God. I figured it was better for my kids to come from a broken home than to have a dead mother, and I made him move out immediately.
Thankfully, I could support myself and my children, so I didn’t need him to stay to pay the bills. I’m about to get remarried to an amazing person who is kind to me and my children and encourages me to have boundaries. My only regret is that I didn’t leave sooner.”
—Anonymous
