‘STOOOOPPPP!’ I could no longer rationalize his strange and uncomfortable behavior.’: Sexual assault survivor bravely speaks up after 20 years, urges ‘you are not your story’

“I would witness dual sides of his personality. One would be full of love and laughter as a family man and the other would be animalistic and cruel. I felt like his prey. An outsider greatly misunderstood. I began to question whether or not it was my fault and if I’d somehow given him the wrong impression. I was sworn to secrecy.”

‘I can do this.’ I’d get my baggies, needle, tie off my hand, and in the heroin went. ‘Just not today.’ I was using in secret. All day, every day.: Woman overcomes drug addiction, now works as nurse fighting ‘the opiate epidemic’

“I’d snort a bunch of pills before a party, drink, pass out, and wake up completely unaware of what happened. My boyfriend was suspicious, but I covered up my drug use. That was before the needle. I said I’d never use one. Needles were for junkies, and I was not that. But my dealer shot me up. It was the most amazing, intense rush of warm, pure happiness I’d ever experienced, and I’d chase that feeling for years. There are so many times I should’ve been arrested, should’ve overdosed, should’ve died, but I didn’t.”

little girl in green sparkly dress for her school picture day

My Daughter’s Hilarious School Photo Fail

“I immediately dropped my phone, laughing hysterically. Our little 1st grader was now hilariously blended into every single background, from the regular single-color backgrounds to the scenic views.”