A homestead, domestic violence, and hope

I don't talk a lot about my past, but this evening I am going to reveal some things in the hope to help a friend.

If you have been reading for a long while, or one of those fascinating people that reads 7 years of posts in a week, you know I left home at age 15. But I have never told the reason why. Just that I had to make a decision, and that one was the best one for me. I have my secrets and only those that I feel need to hear them, know. 

My parents divorced when I was 14. Suddenly a new man was in the house, my stepfather. He was a coke head and an alcoholic. And a raging criminal. It started with things being broken, and progressed to him hurting himself. I remember being woken late one night because he punched a window and cut his arm open so badly that the tendon hung out. Instead of seeking medical attention, he pulled on the tendon, laughing as his thumb moved as he tugged. 

The violence escalated. Soon he was hitting my mother. One night it was so bad that I hid behind the couch and called 911. I couldn't say anything to the operator in fear he would hear me and come for me. I had the cordless, and he happened to pick up the other line. My luck kept him from checking the line, my mother's luck was different. While the operator kept asking if someone needed assistance, he began pummeling her with the receiver. The operator heard it all, and he went to jail, for a while. My intelligent beautiful loving mother allowed him back in her home. My safety was now on the line. So I left. Homelessness was better than this. 

After a time, my mother left him. She lost everything. But now she has a wonderful husband, and my ex stepfather will spend the rest of his life in prison for a different crime. 

I know another intelligent, beautiful, loving woman that is now stepping away from the violence in her life. The other night was the last straw for her. He took a baseball bat to her shelves, 

threw her against a wall, and stalked the goats with threats of murder. The goats are her livelihood. He was determined to take everything from her, just as my ex stepfather did to my mother. I told my friend that she was welcome to stay with me, with all her critters, but she declined. She has resolved to stay in her home, without him, and continue her life. He was only in jail for a brief moment, but restraining orders are in place as is an expedited divorce. She has chosen the best thing for her. 

Yet she has come to discover that he wasn't working. He had been lying to her. And now her farm might be lost. 

She is a lot like I am. A proud woman that would never ask for help. However she has come to the conclusion that something must happen. And in a matter of less than 24 hours, she has come up with a business plan to save her home and allow her to prosper. She wishes to build a commercial kitchen, and has started a crowd funding page to help her do so.

I vouch for this woman.

Please take a look and decide if it is something you would like to help with. Share her story as well.

Some of you may already know her, mmpaints from self sustained living. She is a genius with goat cheese. 

Domestic violence in rural America is more common than you may know. It's still acceptable in some places, and there is no safe place. If you need help, tell someone you trust. You deserve to be free and happy men and women.