Thank you for having the courage to say this. It is so true, and I, like you, have been guilty of letting a man do this to me. I stayed with him for 15 years because we had a child. It damaged me and it damaged our daughter.

When I finally got the courage to stand up to him, he was not happy. When I said I was leaving, he begged me to stay. I left anyway; I had had enough.

He tried to financially manipulate and abuse me after I left and I hired a tough lawyer. It was almost hilarious how fast he caved and gave me a settlement.

He was an angry man who thought he had to dominate his wife and everyone else. I let him get away with it. Until I didn't. And that, to quote a great poet, has made all the difference.