Victoria’s Story
Written by Deanna Sinclair
Victoria’s unfortunate childhood paved the way for an adulthood plagued by abuse. Following a series of dysfunctional relationships almost leading to her death, Victoria overcame the odds to live triumphantly in a new, happy life.
Following is the story of Victoria: her life of hardship, her struggle with difficult relationships, and her victory over abuse to live her best life in freedom.
There are crossroads in life, and you have to choose which path you will take each day. When you wake up in the morning, you choose.
Victoria was the fourth child of five born to her parents, who brought two children each from previous marriages into the family. Love and attention were scarcely found in her household, as her parents struggled to make ends meet while supporting a family of eleven. She was primarily raised by her caring stepsister Laura, who was ten years older, but Laura was unable to completely shield Victoria from frequent physical and emotional abuse. Whippings with belts, coathangers, and extension cords were part of daily discipline for Victoria. She always felt like the ugly duckling in her family, a perspective that was reinforced by violence and neglect.
Victoria’s childhood abuse extended beyond purely physical into child sexual abuse. Her maternal grandfather often encouraged her to “play a game” that involved sexual contact. It was not until he was caught in the act molesting Victoria’s sister, Julie, that their mother believed her children’s accusations of abuse. Even then, their grandfather was allowed to continue spending time with her kids in their family home.
On five occasions, Victoria tied the knot, each marriage lasting no more than three years. Her first husband, Brian, brought 3 kids into the marriage when she was only 21 years old. Victoria had been misinformed that she was unable to become pregnant, and when this turned out to be incorrect after she did successfully conceive, Brian became extremely abusive, partially in an attempt to terminate the pregnancy. He would strike her, choke her to the point of unconsciousness, and throw her down a flight of stairs. This was all part of daily life for Victoria. She eventually learned to cope by playing dead, as this would put a temporary end to the physical abuse.
Victoria’s next four marriages were similarly abusive. Edward, her fifth husband, was a perfect gentleman for the first year of marriage until Dr. Jekyll disappeared and Mr. Hyde introduced himself.
Once, Edward drew a bath for Victoria and gave a her a glass of what he claimed simply to be wine. Surprised at his pleasant demeanor, Victoria consumed the wine. After this, her entire body became paralyzed, leaving her unable to fend for herself in a tub of water. She called out to Edward for help, but received no response. Fortunately, Victoria managed to claw her way out of the bath, onto the relative safety of the bathroom floor.
On another occasion, Edward threw Victoria over a staircase. She was bleeding profusely with chunks of flesh missing from her arm. Confused, she went to the bathroom to care for her arm, where Edward knocked her out.
Victoria, having had enough, called her family for help escaping the situation. In an effort to hide from him, she ran out to a field behind their house. Edward found her, tied her to a fence post, and set the house on fire. Luckily, one of her sisters found and released her before the fire was able to reach her. Police later apprehended Edward, who was briefly taken into custody but released the next day. No charges were ever filed against Edward for these atrocious and deadly acts.
Fast forward to now: eight years have passed since Victoria’s last marriage ended. She is in a healthy relationship with a loving, compassionate partner. Without a supportive family, as well as the modern-day treatment of psychotherapy and hypnosis, Victoria is sure that any kind of happy life like this would have been a virtual impossibility.
“There are crossroads in life, and you have to choose which path you will take each day. When you wake up in the morning, you choose.”
In addition to the above words of wisdom, Victoria expounds that knowing what triggers affect you is imperative to making every single day count. There are no guarantees that life will ever get easier, but as long as you make the choice everyday to become stronger, life absolutely does become better. Always choose to be the best that you can be.
Written by Deanna Sinclair
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