‘Abuse & Addictions’
Dragonslippers
I need you to help me because I feel like I’m going insane. It has to do with my sister and her boyfriend. She’s been with him for nine years and living a lie ever since. He’s been unfaithful to her since the beginning of the relationship and continues to do her wrong. When times get hard, he runs out on her.
Lascivious Looks
For 15 years I was married to my high school sweetheart. The marriage was abusive, and I suffer from self-esteem issues. The man I’m dating now cannot watch a movie, see a Victoria’s Secret commercial, or glimpse a beautiful model in a magazine without saying what he would like to do with her sexually.
One-track Mind
I am lucky to be engaged to the most wonderful guy on the planet. However, like most men, he has a mother. And what’s more, she lives with us. It’s a long story, but basically times were tough and she didn’t have any other options. So for the past two years we’ve been one big “happy” family.
Inoculation
My mother is an alcoholic. I was the daughter who pampered her through it all and took the abuse. She is a very mean drunk. Last year I experienced a breakdown as I was still allowing her to control my life. This wasn’t good for me or my family.
Go Ask Alice
I am involved with a woman whose husband abandoned her. At first our relationship revolved around her heartbreak over his actions. He was unfaithful to her and moved out of the house twice. The first time he left she begged and begged for him to return, and he eventually did.
Alcohol’s Child
I am 40 and the daughter of an alcoholic. My parents have been married 43 years and have stayed together for lack of money and because of their health. They are really great people, but it is the typical story.
No Class
The manager of a very posh store in New York City has this weird habit of touching her employees’ lunches. She has picked up sandwiches and taken bites out of them without permission. She even sticks her finger into their donuts or muffins while they are eating them.
The Excuse
I am a 22-year-old woman married for two and a half years. My husband and I have been together continuously since I was 15. We have a son, two, and a five-week-old daughter.
Involuntary Abstinence
I have trouble trusting my girlfriend of two years. She’s lied to me the entire time about her smoking habit. I finally caught her awhile ago. I agreed to help her quit, but she never speaks about it.
Unforeseen Results
The man I married was honest to a fault, neat, clean, energetic, and childlike in his enjoyment of life. I was the more mature one. I set rules for the children and did household accounts and such.
False Imprisonment
Three years ago my husband confessed to me face-to-face, he had an affair with a friend of mine. It hurt me so bad, but after days of him apologizing, saying how much he loved me and what a mistake he made, I took him back.
Unalienable Rights
Five years ago I married someone wonderful. Two years ago I had my son, our first child. I gave up my job to stay with the baby, and now I am a full-time, stay at home mom. My son is wonderful, but I feel cheated and upset that I’m no longer independent.
The Cost Of Learning
I have no closure on a situation in which I was used, and I regret it bitterly. Several months ago I ended a long-distance, codependent relationship with a charming alcoholic.
Life In A Bottle
I am a young woman, the daughter of an alcoholic. My father took to the bottle late in my teen years. Until then he was the undisputed hero of my life. We were close, and yes, we fought, but no more than any other father and daughter. It?s an infinitely tricky relationship across the board, it seems to me.
Another Victim
When I read Esme’s letter, it immediately took me back to my own childhood when my mother would warn my brother and me, “Your father is on his way home, and he is in a bad mood today.”