National Story Telling Week - Survivor Story Part One
Together Forever – Part 1
When I was 12 I met my first boyfriend, I fell in love and believed – or was told, we would be together forever. We stayed together for 7 years and at 18 fell pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, what I didn’t realise that during these 7 years my life would be turned upside down.
At first the relationship was brilliant and he was the most loving person I could have hoped to have met. He promised me we would be together forever, me & him no matter what. No-one else would love me like him. As we got older he started to change, he started taking copious amounts of drugs and his behaviours towards me started to change.
As I got into year 9 I was rarely able to manage a full day in school, my relationships with family & friends was toxic. Looking back he wanted to make sure I had no one but him. I would find myself getting in trouble with the police, in order to keep up a reputation that he and his family had set – if I didn’t there would be consequences for me. Growing up as a teenager I made choices to please him and started to put myself at danger, but even this didn’t stop me loving him, together forever… remember??
On my 13th birthday I remember was the first time I thought this isn’t normal. We was arguing in his bedroom, and he started pushing and shoving me around. I was crying and begging for him to stop, but he didn’t listen, his voice got louder and his temper got worse. He punched me across the face, suddenly we both just froze and stared at each other, it was as if he was in shock at what he had done and I just remember thinking oh my god what is this. His mum came upstairs to the bedroom and was shouting at him “look at her, what have you done, it’s her birthday” she took me downstairs and I just remember crying like a baby. He came down and said sorry to me and promised that it would never happen again and that I had just ‘got him wound up’ at that point I should have walked away but I didn’t. Together forever… remember?