I did a post a while back about staying with the one you married…And I believe you should, under normal circumstances.  If, however, you are in an abusive relationship, it is altogether different. Let me pass my story on to you: I loved my parents as much as any child could love parents. They loved me and I felt the love. But, when I was small, probably three or four through seven or eight, every Friday night after getting paid and visiting the beer joints, my sweet, caring Dad became a drunken, abusive, husband. He never beat me in any way, but he would threaten my mom with her life and I witnessed Mom wrestling him for a rifle that he was going to use to shoot her, and as a child I would come between them and try to reason with them, literally begging them not to hurt one another; there were many other instances, including knives,  that I really do not care to repeat…It is still a touchy subject with me, but I want to write about it since you may know someone that this is happening to today. No child should have to witness that type behaviour at anytime. Drinking and or drugs changes an otherwise loving person. I survived, but with many scars. Dad changed after a few years of this hellish behavior. If you or a loved one of yours is experiencing similar to what I did, give the guilty person the opportunity to change, but if they will not change, you need to get away from them. More importantly, get your children away from them. I told you earlier about witnessing to my Dad a few month before he died at age 94. He’s in Heaven. He was a wonderful person, sober, and he was sober for probably his last sixty years…Drunk, he was a beast. I did not tell this story to belittle my Dad, not in any way, but hopefully this candid story will  help someone else that may be suffering….if so, please don’t let it continue….Pete