Category: Reflections
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Twenty Years Later: From Seed to Oak Tree
Tomorrow marks twenty years since I almost died. Twenty years since a June night in 2006 when a near-fatal strangulation changed the course of my life forever. For a long time, I viewed that night as the day everything was taken from me. Now, I see it differently. I think that night was the day…
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The Girl Who Thought a New City Would Save Her
I look at this picture now and I see a woman who was smiling. What I don’t see is the exhaustion she was carrying. What I don’t see is the fear, the confusion, the grief, and the years of survival mode hidden behind that smile. This picture was taken around the time I moved to…
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The Bruises Healed. The Voices Stayed.
As someone with an ACE score of 9, I have experienced nearly every form of abuse a person can endure. Physical abuse. Sexual abuse. Domestic violence. Psychological abuse. Verbal abuse. Emotional abuse. In 2006, I survived a near-fatal strangulation during a domestic violence assault. That night changed the course of my life in ways I…
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When Peace Starts Feeling Safer Than Chaos
A week ago, I started a new part-time job. Nothing glamorous. No lights and sirens. No trauma. No death. No emergencies. No rushing from one crisis to the next. And after my first week there, I can honestly say something I never expected to say: I love it. But as much as I love it,…
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Before & After: The Conversation That Changed My Life
Almost twenty years ago, I sat in an emergency room after being verbally abused, physically beaten, and forever changed by a near-fatal strangulation. The “nice guy” everyone knew was a dangerous drunk behind closed doors. My discharge papers said: “Discontinue this relationship.”“Return if symptoms persist.” Sometimes I wonder what those discharge instructions would say if…
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From Accusation to Freedom: How God Turned an Attack Into My Next Blessing
Yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster.It started with workplace tension that had been brewing for months. Long story short, what began as ten people raising concerns — nine of them even going to leadership in person — finally reached the point where we demanded action. Somewhere in the mess of it all, over the last six…