My decision to commit suicide came while I stood in front of an open dresser drawer choosing socks before picking up my kids from their play date. My drinking had escalated after my youngest arrived, a response to my belief in myself as ill-equipped to mother more than one child.

The moment I found out I had cancer, I was sitting in my cubicle at the first job I had gotten after graduating from college. My biggest worry that day was finishing my Christmas shopping, as the holidays were just a few weeks from then. That was going to be my first Christmas together with my family since moving back from college in Minnesota, and I was so excited to spend time with those I loved. With one phone call from my doctor that afternoon, after a set of yearly routine tests, my entire life was flipped upside down.

Domestic abuse and trauma change your internal landscape forever. A true story of surviving a relationship with an abusive addict.