Beat The System, Not Each Other
National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Nights with full moons seemed worse. The calls came right after another, the red light blinking as if it might just burst out of its box.
“9-1-1 what is your emergency?” And the fear and pain would spill into the phone line that connected us.
For ten years I was a 9-1-1 operator, which sometimes makes for interesting conversation at parties. The hardest calls to take were the ones that involved domestic violence .
Here’s the deal, fear and love cannot live in the same place. Meaning that you cannot be in love with another human being and fear them at the same time. That’s not love.
If you’re afraid to come home, if you’re afraid your significant other will cut your money off, call you stupid, or push, shove, kick, scratch, pinch or bite you, if they force you to have sex or intimidate you, that’s domestic violence.
October is National Breast Cancer awareness month too, but did you know that twice as many women are victims of domestic violence?
Victims of domestic violence live in the nice parts of town, they live in the middle class neighborhoods with the nice schools, they live in working class neighborhoods, they live next to the train tracks or in trailer parks. They work next to us; they can be our doctor or therapist, a postal worker or salesperson at our favorite store.
Domestic violence isn’t choosy, it can happen to anyone.
You can’t fear and love someone at the same time. That is not love.
- Aunt B
