WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SEE WARNING SIGNS AGAINST YOUR DAUGHTER?
Being the victim of domestic violence makes you very sensitive to the warning signs that others might not see. As a mother, seeing the warning signs against your daughter makes the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up. Well, that is exactly what happened in my family. I am the mother of twins, a boy, and a girl. They are both grown now. This is relevant because the initial red flag was my daughter’s boyfriend. Not against my daughter, rather against her twin brother.
We were having a family gathering and the twins were arguing like siblings do. My son made a joke to his sister which her boyfriend did not like. In front of the whole family, he started screaming at my son threatening to hit him. I walked into the room and he was beat red in the face, very angry. I asked what was going on and he yelled at me as well. He immediately left the house. Both my son and daughter were very upset.
We continued on with the family dinner and a short time later he returned with a big sob story about his past deeds in life and some far-fetched story about his family. My husband and I explained to him that this behavior was unacceptable and would not be tolerated in our family ever again. I had many reservations, but I wanted to give him a chance hoping it was an isolated incident. I continued to see little things that gave me pause throughout the next few months. Having been a victim myself I was starting to get worried.
Fast forward to our family vacation that summer when he joined us on vacation. For a five-day period, there was sign after sign after sign. My husband and I decided this was a real threat and we had to take a stand. When we arrived home from vacation, we explained to our daughter that this was not acceptable, and he was no longer welcome in our home. She was so blind to it she said we only noticed because I had been a victim myself. She was angry at first and said she would keep seeing him and just not bring him to our house. He even called my husband telling him that he had disrespecting him. She tried this for a week or two but then began seeing the signs herself and left the relationship.
I am happy to report she is now very happily married to a wonderful man that we have great confidence will make her happy for the rest of her life.