“Document everything. That helped to prove what was really going on.”

We were together for six years. He was a charmer at first. The abuse started slow. It started early and gradually got worse and worse, as they usually do.

There was a lot of physical, mental, and sexual abuse. You name it, we had it. He had knocked my front two teeth in over me not wanting to have sex. That is when I left and didn’t go back.

I went to the police department to get a new EPO. That’s where I met Kris, my GreenHouse17 advocate, and started going to her support group.

Then the stalking started.

He was tracking my car. He was showing up everywhere. I’d have to come home from work because he was sitting outside my house, trying to talk to my kid when he got off the bus.

When I asked for an extra patrol one night, Detective Joey Valdez came to my house. We went over all the different phone calls and text messages and started to build a case.

There was a lot of court. A lot of DVO violations. It got to the point we stopped counting his violations after it was 30 something.

I can’t tell you how many times I’d have to walk through my house with all the lights off so that I could look outside. He’s in jail now, but I still think about it if my dogs are barking in the middle of the night.

You’re at rock bottom.

Getting back on your feet is the hardest part. He isolated me. I was a stay-at-home mom for a long time and didn’t have access to money. I had to move in with my mom. My kids didn’t have their own beds.

Those are the hardest times because you have to let go of the life that you had.

Focus on the future. The support group was really helpful. That was my first time reaching out for help, and the first time it felt like I wasn’t doing it by myself. There was no way I could have done it without the resources.

It’s been therapeutic to share my story. It was something I didn’t know I needed, and it feels really good.

I’m remarried and had a baby. I’m a dental assistant, and I work with kids. I own my own home in the country and have chickens and pigs. I still go to the support group sometimes because I feel like I could help somebody else.

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