All of you are such a blessing to me. Your willingness to open up and share to not only help yourself, but others who might be reading this thread.

Margie, I see a lot of childishness in your husband. For him to overreact in this way is alarming and especially in front of another person. I would find a good counselor and go (by yourself) and explore why you are tolerating his bad behavior. In the end, it's about us and what we accept or don't accept. It will help you define yourself and your boundaries. But, nobody should have to live in those circumstances...ever!

JJ, it sounds to me like the hub was cheating on you and almost trying to force you into a divorce. That way, you had to take a stand and he didn't. You're the bad guy for divorcing him. Can you say, chicken?

Dee, I was trying to tell my husband about your story and kept breaking down and crying. It was just too emotional for me to talk about. This doesn't happen with me very often so it shows how important your words are and the impact they carry.

Ms. Anno! I've met you in person and you are NOT ugly! You're quite beautiful and your personality makes you even more lovely. These abusers--they do anything they can to make a woman feel bad about herself. I used to tell my ex how handsome I thought he was. One day I told him I didn't feel that way anymore since I had gotten to know the inside of him. He was astounded and started yelling about how I had always remarked on his looks. He couldn't believe I would say that and shoved me out of the house. It was okay for him to say negative things about my looks but he couldn't take it when I did the same thing.

I've often thought about writing a small book on women who have endured many forms of abuse and how they escaped and healed. Might be a project in the future, from reading the stories here.

Gosh, I hope I responded to everyone. I'll go back and check, just in case. I sure do love you gals.