“Maybe now you’ll learn your place,” my mother-in-law sneered after my husband attacked me while I held our sick baby post-surgery. Weak and trembling, I locked us in the room and dialed one number. Minutes later, heavy boots kicked down the front door, and my husband’s face went pale as my father walked in wearing his general’s uniform and said…

and the quiet safety of my new home.

Sometimes, when I am stepping out of the shower, I catch sight of the jagged silver lightning bolt scarring my abdomen. I used to hate it. I used to see it as a mark of my victimization. Now, I trace it with my fingertips and recognize it for what it truly is: a badge of profound endurance. It is the physical proof continue reading …