Stories
“Ashley” – My Story
Early in our marriage, things with my husband seemed very normal. After our two sons were born, I began to notice a disconnect with my husband. He began to show bitterness and anger toward me. My husband told me things would be better if I lost weight, spent less money, or had dinner ready for …
“Brandy” – My Story
Brandi Walker Ottawa County mother In 2014, my ex-boyfriend became violent with me when I was pregnant and threatened to kill me. I tried leaving him several times, but he would promise me he would be better if I came back. Three weeks after my son was born, he came over and shoved me against …
“Esther” – My Story
Ottawa County, Michigan Early on in our marriage, my husband became angry and violent towards me and our two children. This escalated into physical and sexual abuse towards me. I separated from my husband when I found twisted pornography with a minor on his phone, and I knew we had to divorce when a later …
“Maria” – My Story
Ottawa County, Michigan When I was 34 years-old I became pregnant with the first of our two children. When we first met and were friends, my partner did not smoke, drink, or do drugs. Soon after our son was born, my partner became aggressive and began to drink more and more heavily. As time went on, the severity …
“Sally” – My Story
Soon after the divorce, I discovered my ex-husband was sexually and physically abusing our two daughters. Despite my desperate attempts to protect them, the court continued to grant unsupervised parenting time to my ex-husband. Both Judge Hulsing and Judge Engle refused to allow me to submit evidence of abuse into trial. The court prevented me from speaking about the …
“Ann” – My Story
Ottawa County, Michigan Since the beginning of our marriage, my husband had deep anger issues. When my father passed away, my husband’s anger escalated to physical abuse, emotional abuse, and suicide threats. We cycled through domestic violence counseling, four PPO’s, separations, and police involvement. Until finally, I realized I needed to end the marriage. When …