Hi there. I am a single mom, who left an abusive marriage. I was a military spouse for over 14 years. I gave up so much of myself to support the career of my ex-husband. I supported him throughout deployments, trainings, night terrors, binge-drinking – all of the highs and the lows of military life. We were a young couple, who had children young. Which is why he joined the military – to support us. I should have listened to my gut when he cheated on me after our son was born. But being young and naive, I wanted to try to stay together for the kid(s). I got pregnant again shortly after. That is when the emotional and mental abuse started. He isolated me from my family, so I didn’t have a support system around me. I became depressed, had no money of my own and felt stuck. He told me repeatedly that no one else would love me because I was young, didn’t have a high school diploma (I dropped out of high school at 17 to care for our son and work, school was just too much for me to handle at that point), and had two kids at this point. He wore me down so much, that I believed him. Things went on like this for a few years. He never got physical with *me* but would break things around me, punch holes in the walls, berate and belittle me. By this time, I was so far removed from my family. We moved to a new duty stationed and we both sought counseling. Things were a bit better, but I still wasn’t allowed to get a job to support myself. So again, I stayed, under the promise things would get better. I believed him. Things were a little better. The fight stopped. We got along. Then we moved again, overseas this time. What should have been my dream duty station, turned into a nightmare. I was even further from my family, taking care of the kids by myself. The cheating started again. The drinking heavily started again. The berating. Belittling. Spending all our money at the bars and strip clubs. It was so bad, the children and I had to survive off of instant ramen for months on end, because he would spend all of the money. I tried to leave, several times. But it was always the same cycle of manipulation. “I’m sorry, I love you. I promise things will be better this time. You’re all I want. All I need”. Things would be good for a few months, and then fall off again. Starting the same cycle of abuse. I was able to get away, with my children, with the help from my mom. Flew over 2000 miles, 16 hours, back to the states. Unfortunately, my mother could only help so much. I’ve been searching for jobs – I have applied to over 100 places, but because I was a SAHM for so long, I don’t have a lot of experience on my resume and get overlooked quite a lot. So here I am, presenting myself to you all, in hopes I can get something to help me get by until I land that job. If you do find it in your hearts to help, please know that my children and I will be forever grateful to you. God bless. Thank you for reading.
My PayPal is www.PayPal.me/cwimm
Thank you again. From the bottom of my heart.