My son Randy

I will never forget what a sweet child my son was - He was born on December 11th 1986 in Seattle, Washington.

I was in an abusive relationship with his father so I raised him the best I could on my own.

Then in 1990 I met someone new, but I wasn't aware that this would become yet another abusive relationship. This man didn't love my children as his own. He mistreated them and me. But I had a Learning Disability and no family support, and I was afraid to be on my own, so blind to the abuse - I stayed in the relationship for way too long until 2006.

Now I have to live with the guilt of being in this relationship- because my ex always falsely accused my children of everything. And wanted them to be "failures" because he felt like a failure himself. He made sure he told me to call the police on my own children so they were in and out of juvenile court most of their teenage years. This gets worse- Randy was a sexual assault survivor as a baby by a babysitter. The offender was never prosecuted, Randy needed counseling instead the court system failed and labeled a 11 year old child unfairly. He died in a "car wreck" in 2003. I still don't know how the accelerator managed to stick. Or even if the accident was a "set up". But now I am truly sorry for ever allowing myself to stay in a bad abusive relationship. I have found that my faith in God has become much stronger and he is by my side helping me heal.

I sincerely hope that if you are a woman staying in a relationship for the same reason-you will get out any way you can and get help. Don't let an abusive man destroy your family and you life.

Take care- L.M.G.