These were not thoughts I shared with anyone at the office. At least not directly. Whenever I met with our domestic violence experts, Lydia Bodin and Scott Gordon, I’d ply them with questions. “Why the hell didn’t she cut and run?” I’d ask Scott. “Minimizing” was what he called it. He told me, “Women who are in abusive relationships downplay the seriousness of their own circumstances. They deny it to themselves. They present a brave front to others, trying to hold things together. It’s a coping mechanism.” Minimizing. That certainly hit me where I lived. Nothings wrong here. I can get this
...more
