Lea Love

  It started with phone calls. At first I would answer thinking it was my mom or a friend calling. My X raged on the other end of the line seething with sarcasm, hatred, and threats. I’d hop in my

I haven’t had a night terror in a few years now. And for that I’m very grateful. But when my nights were affected by them, so were my days – I’d exist in an over-tired and exhausted bubble. They would

They woke me most nights. As I relaxed into my home and surroundings, and felt loved and protected, my sleep changed. The more safe my little family was, the more intense my dream world became. In my day to day

Being in or leaving an abusive relationship is exhausting. I spent my precious life energy tiptoeing around an “overly-sensitive”, “moody”, and “hyper-reactive” partner. That was on his good days. Words that come to mind are: walking on eggshells, hypervigilant, cautious

Hello Loves, I remember the first shelter. An attentive woman picked me and my daughter up and took us to a safe house. I was exhausted and scared, but knew we were protected. There was an intake process that shook

Hello Loves, I went out for lunch with my girlfriend and her close friend. My girlfriend’s close friend was in the midst of a separation from her X. Throughout their marriage he had exhibited and acted out anger, aggression, and

Hello Loves, I had a long, drawn out custody case fighting for my daughter. Let me tell you one story about it. I asked the judge to appoint a guardian ad litem (GAL) for my child. I wanted her to

  Hello Loves, Being in family court is like being in a play. A tragic play. Like Les Miserables. Everything is an orchestrated act. The court room a grand stage. It starts with the judge, usually a white male, in

Hello Loves, Male violence is not biological. It’s cultural. It’s taught by family, friends, schools, communities, work, and society. My X was dominated and controlled within his family. As a child, he was naturally in tune with his feminine self.

Hello Loves, Intimate partner violence has a lot of invisibility to it. This is where not being believed can get challenging and dangerous. This is where significant changes need to be made to laws and the judicial system. It is

Hello Loves, Have you ever judged a woman for not making the best choices? And if they’re a mom, well forget about it. Moms are held at a Buddha-Jesus-Guanyin like level. They are supposed to attain parenting perfection daily. I’ve

Hello Loves, A lot of people didn’t believe me. Even well-intentioned friends. That was one of the hardest realities of leaving my X, and discussing the sad fact of the abuse he inflicted on our family. The first person who

  Hello Loves, How can you trust anyone ever again? This has been a question asked of me for years. Especially by women. It seems like I don’t know a single woman who has not experienced some form of intimate

Hello Loves, I have this idea. What if we could change the paradigm, that when women and children experience violence, they escape to a shelter? Women have been protecting and sheltering women and children from abuse in their own homes,

Hello Loves, Talking about abuse is hard. While it was happening to me, I had no words for it. I didn’t grow up with abuse. I hadn’t seen anyone being abused. I didn’t even have the word abuse in my

  Hello Loves, You must forgive to heal. Oh, how I disliked this declaration. It almost felt like an insult. I abhorred my X with every cell of my being. When I thought of him, my eyes narrowed and my

Hello Loves, I still live with regret. It doesn’t come around often, but when it does, wow does it ever call up sorrow and grief. Then comes the great purging. I get out my journal and write it down. It

Hello Loves, The harassment and threats did not stop when I left my X. They only intensified. My daughter and I stayed with friends while I sorted out my next steps. My X cut off all food and money, and

  Hello Loves, My X was mean to his animals. He had two horses that mostly hung out and grazed in the pasture. He gave them the minimum amount of attention to not be considered neglectful. He moved their tether

Hello Loves, My X physically abused me and my child. This is a really hard part of my life to contend with, aside from the fact that it happened, and this is why – my mind rationalizes that we don’t

Hello Loves, My X was the master of everything. He sold himself as a master gardener, even though he had no formal training, no degree or certificates, and could barely make ends meet with his business or within his own

Hello Loves, In the beginning my X told me I was beautiful. He was a charmer. He liked to show me off to his male friends to make them jealous. Like I was his prize. He was twice my age

  Hello Loves, My X’s power and control over me was subtle, until it wasn’t. At first he appointed my friends – women he had dated or were in his community. It felt loving and thoughtful. He didn’t want me

  Hello Loves, At first I thought it was sweet. I’d driven to a friend’s house and my X called moments after I arrived. He was checking that I got there safely. Then he wanted to know when I would

  Hello Loves, My X believed he was as smart as any doctor. He had no medical schooling and had dropped out of college. Yet, he always knew better. He thought his hunches were bang on one hundred percent of

  Hello Loves, I fell off a horse. I was pretty badly injured. I’d come crashing down onto a cement road, my ankle smashing against it. I was convinced that I’d broken a bone. I managed to get back home.

Hello Loves, I witnessed the first fight. It’s not what you think. It was between my X and his daughter. She had come home from school, hot and cranky. He had forgot to pick her up, and she was mad

Hello Loves, I walked in on my X showering with his preteen daughter. Naked. It seemed like I was witnessing a private and yet normal routine. He stood behind her lathering up shampoo on her scalp. A thing she was

  Hello Loves, My X shared a bed with his pre-teen daughter. I found this out after I moved in with him. We had picked her up from her mom’s place and went out for dinner. Over bites of pizza,

  Hello Loves, My X hated his ex-wife. If only that had been enough to signal to my inner self to stay away. But for me it wasn’t that unusual. My parents had divorced when I was nine. They argued

  Hello Loves, I met my X at a street party in Hawaii. He singled me out in a crowd of hundreds. The first thing he said to me, before introducing himself, was that the previous guy I had been

  Hello Loves, It takes a lot of bravery to stand up to someone you once loved, and tell them that your relationship is over, and you want out. It becomes an act of heroism when you’ve spent most of