“For the first time, I finally feel it’s over. This is the first time in 21 years that, inside of me, I know it’s done.”   

I’ve always thought, “Well, he’s gonna get better, he’s going to change, but he’s not going to change. I know this now.  

Since arriving at GreenHouse17 and being safe, it’s my apartment that has brought me the greatest joy. It’s mine. Everything in it belongs to me. On my first night, I sat on my air mattress and looked around and saw that finally this is mine.  

Now, I can have friends. That’s something I’ve not really had in the past. I would have a few girlfriends, but it would always turn into them hating him, and then trying to help me to leave him, and me not being ready to go.  

They asked me all the time, “Well, why don’t you just leave?” Even now, I don’t know. That’s a hard question to ask someone in that sort of relationship. They financially cripple you. Your self-worth is non-existent. There just isn’t any.  

The farm program here was a wonderful thing for me. Many mornings, we would sit there picking beans and just talking and getting it out. The farm is like meditation in a physical form. I loved it.  

When cutting the flowers, I once broke one, and I was devastated. Christina [farm co-manager] said, “Just throw it down, and give it back to the earth.” She convinced me to give it back to nature, and this was one of the best lessons I’ve ever learned in the garden.  

I see myself as self-sufficient, on my own, and strong when looking into the future. I don’t want anything grand like a mansion or Porsche. I just want to be and enjoy the flowers.  

This is only part of Daisy’s story, in her own words, and shared with her permission.