For 17 years, I was married to my best friend and thought we had the kind of life many dream about. Then everything changed. My husband started using drugs, and soon after, he began a relationship with a girl the same age as our daughter. He left our family for her and became abusive—both physically and emotionally. He would come home in the middle of the night, choking me, putting pillows over my head, and my kids had to witness the violence far too many times. It felt like our world was collapsing. In my own struggle to cope, I started using drugs too, and things spiraled from there. My husband began stealing from our kids and me, either to give to his girlfriend or to sell for more drugs. His girlfriend eventually called DHS in a moment of anger, and that call led to the unimaginable—our kids were taken away from us. While I was shattered by the loss, my husband continued partying with her that very night, completely indifferent to the destruction he’d caused. After over a year of enduring this nightmare, I finally decided I couldn’t live that way anymore. I grabbed some clothes, left everything behind, and checked myself into rehab. That decision saved my life. I came out clean, ready to rebuild my world, and I got a good job to start fresh. Sadly, while I was in rehab, my husband and his girlfriend moved into our home and stole everything, leaving me with nothing but the clothes on my back. But this is not a story of loss—it’s a story of survival. I’m starting over from scratch, rebuilding my life with strength, resilience, and a determination to create something better for myself and my children. This blog is part of that journey—sharing my experiences, lessons, and hope for the future