wow
http://www.domesticviolencehelp.com/testimonials/testimonials-18.html
xxxxx's Story:
We picked this mom and her 3 small children up at the train station. Her ex-husband had basically held them all captive for a short time, with no heat, no food, in a remote area of a neighboring state. At one point, he hit her 4 year old daughter so hard she needed speech therapy afterwards. This mom was very motivated to get as far as possible from this very abusive man. FRS paid for 5 nights in a motel until she could get to the shelter, where she was given a car. She drove across the US to another state, where she is happily living and going to school. She writes: “I needed a change in my life. I needed a new start and a safe place that was different than any other shelter---a place that understood and specialized in security. I want to thank FRS for all their help—their love, hugs, talks…for showing me how to love myself and find joy…and the amazing gift of the car.”
Since you posted this, let me tell you MY true story: When my children were still young, we had good friends with children also. Wife took the kids (in ice and snow) to drive 2 hours to visit her mother, who was terminally ill. She never arrived. Husband and friends drove every route looking for them. Nada. Authorities came in and searched by land. Nada. They searched from air with helicopters. Nada. They actually interrupted tv programming to post pics of them and the car. Nada. Three days later we were practically spoon-feeding him 'cause they would surely have died from exposure by then. He nearly died himself when they started dragging the water bodies along the route. Then the phone call came. It was HER...she had a mental breakdown on the way to her mothers house and thought the light in the ceiling of the car was a tracking device, ran away, holed up in a hotel room, and wouldn't let the children call for help.
AT LEAST he knew they were alive at that point. But she didn't reveal where she was. She was gone SIX MONTHS, you guessed it,
housed by domestic violence shelters. The children became milk carton kids and Post Office posters. After six months, he called me one morning and asked me to feed his dog because he was on his way to HAWAII. She was on a flight bound there from NEW ZEALAND; her passport had been checked and unknown to her she was being turned over to authorities on arrival.
Unbelievably, in that 6 months she was gone while he did not know if his children were dead or alive, in addition to all over the US, she had spent time in Great Britain, China, Australia, New Zealand, and I don't know for sure where else.
This is a true story. These children are dear friends of mine and my children's to this day. I am very proud of them and have always felt very nurturing toward them. They have both grown up to be beautiful young women, in all ways.
So, even tho I had my years of working as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, I also have seen how that system can be USED AND ABUSED by some.
Edited to add: We were all so shocked by her sudden and complete breakdown with no outward warning signs, then we learned there had been much mental illness on both sides of her family. The stress of her mother being in the difficult stage of dying probably factored in putting her 'over the edge".
