Hope and Healing after Divorce

At age 25, I was divorced. How would I heal from the pain?

When I first met Andy (name has been changed), I was captivated by his charm. He was the quintessential gentleman—responding with “yes, ma’am,” opening car doors, and sending me flowers. He was funny, handsome, and a recently returned missionary. I quickly fell in love and agreed to marry him. Like many young women, I had thought often about how wonderful a temple marriage would someday be. My hope of an ideal marriage with Andy quickly shattered the night of our wedding when the abuse began.

I endured a three-year nightmare of verbal, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. Andy controlled what I ate and isolated me from friends and family. He blamed me for most of our problems and said, untruthfully, that I was crazy, fat, and irresponsible. Slowly, I began to believe him. I thought that if I only changed myself, he would be happy and our marriage would last. But my efforts were never enough.

Share
Stay in the loop!
Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content