I’m a survivor. For 16 long years, I didn’t believe I’d ever get to call myself that. Self-doubt, low self-esteem imposed on me by my abusive, narcissistic ex-husband, and fear held me hostage. I didn’t recognize myself. Hope no longer existed. The stress and strain of just trying to live to see another day took a devastating toll on me physically, emotionally, and financially.

My life was not my own, and I was tired of it. At my core, I knew I had to fight back, but after living in such a toxic environment, I wasn’t sure it would make a difference.

Thankfully, I summoned the courage. Call it dumb luck, an epiphany, or a sheer desire to shield my children from any more trauma, I left. Unfortunately, the abuse didn’t end when I closed that chapter of my life. The next chapter invited a different form of abuse into my life in the form of dubious legal tactics, mean-spirited counter-parenting, battling false parental alienation claims, and harassment replaced the abuse I endured when we lived under the same roof.

But I had changed. Leaving left me feeling more empowered. Slowly, I saw my worth and understood that my freedom from my ex was what I needed to not only survive but thrive.

Was It My Fault? is my story. In it, I share intimate details of my toxic marriage, but more than that, I share my journey out of the depths of despair and how I continue to fight for myself and my children post-separation. It’s my hope that my story will inspire someone who may be in a toxic relationship and feeling like they have no fight left in them to not give up and find a path forward.