This may be a confusing approach to this GoFundMe, but in order to ensure the safety of my dear friend pursuing divorce from her ex, I will be writing from personal experience of the undeniable importance of single mothers having support when removing themselves and their children from toxic, abusive environments.
If you know me, you know I move through the world with undeniable mother hunger. My mother left when I was young, about 9 years old, and I have unfortunately not been able to see her since. So many hear this and think “I could never leave my children, nothing could push me far enough to do that”, and while I know this stance well, I also know what it’s like to watch my mothers life constantly put on the line because of the abuse of my father. There were five of us children, all of which were brainwashed into believing our mother didn’t love us, didn’t want what was best for us, and only wanted to split our family apart. He sang of her instability, her lack of promise when it came to basic care, and her overall dishonesty when it came to what was actually happening in our home. When you have a tyrant of a man telling you that what you have witnessed is in fact, not what you have witnessed, it can really muddy your perception and ability to trust yourself. This control, met with power, met with narcissism, was a recipe for “winning” custody of all 5 of us children. It didn’t end at that, with the constant threats and stalking and likely other unknown scare-tactics, my father successfully pushed our mother out of state and ultimately out of our lives.
My guess is each person reading this knows of a mother who has suffered at the hands of their children’s father. There are endless stories of abuse and trauma in the home, and while not all stories end with support, survival, and ultimately a life of thriving, many can and do. My hope is to gain your support to make one more mother and children’s life add to the statistic of moving on and finding safety and security. So much is at stake during the divorce process, and to relieve this mother of the extreme financial burden necessary to free herself, we could offer her a better opportunity at life as a whole.
