My Story — In My Own Words

Published chapters

Part One — Before All of This: How We Met — The life I was building, the beginning of the relationship, and our marriage.

Part Two — Leaving My Life Behind: Coming next.

I’d like to tell this as I remember it, not as I understand it now. I will leave that part to your interpretation.

I promise you, I never thought this could happen to me, but here I am.

This is my story

Before I became a survivor trying to explain what happened, I was a mother, a student, and a healthcare professional building a future. I was studying nuclear medicine and working toward a career that allowed me to help people. I want that part of me to be heard, too.

I met the man who became my husband in 2024. We married only months after meeting. I moved across the country, left behind belongings and familiar support, and gradually experienced restrictions on my independence. What followed, from September 2024 through June 2026, included physical, sexual, emotional, and financial abuse, threats, and attempts to control my choices.

I spent so much time trying to understand what was happening and trying to survive that I lost sight of the life I had wanted. Now I am telling my story in my own words. I am rebuilding, and I want the voices of other survivors to have room here, too.

How I’m telling it

The complete first-person account is being organized into chapters, beginning before we met and continuing through the relationship, leaving, seeking help, and rebuilding. I want the chapters to preserve my own language and memories, not read like someone else’s summary of my life. Some details and supporting records remain private while legal proceedings continue.

The chapters I’m preparing

Part One — Before All of This: my children, my studies, the career I was building, and the person I was before this relationship.

Part Two — How We Met: the beginning, the whirlwind relationship, and our marriage.

Part Three — Leaving My Life Behind: the move, the belongings I sold, and the early signs of control.

Part Four — The First Time: when I first recognized the danger.

Part Five — Trying to Survive: coercive control, isolation, abuse, and attempts to leave.

Part Six — Oregon and the Aftermath: seeking safety, asking for help, and trying to recover.

Part Seven — Rebuilding: legal and financial challenges, the people who helped, and the reason Please Hear Me exists.

If you are reading this because something sounds familiar

You don’t have to tell your story publicly to deserve help. Visit Resources & Support for advocacy and legal information. If sharing your story online could put you at risk, your safety comes before publishing.

So please, I beg you, take the time to hear me. Hear my truth and help me have a voice that has been taken from me.

Documentation — The Records Behind My Story explains how supporting materials will be reviewed and connected with future chapters.