Jessie's Story: We Fall, We Break, We Hurt, We Surrender, And Then We RISE!
My life has been very up and down. My parents adopted me when I was 2 years old. Before that, I had spent 2 years in foster care. My birth parents apparently took parenting classes, but were deemed mentally unable to care for children. Between the two of them, they had a total of 8 kids that we know about. I have heard there is possibly a 9th child, but that is unconfirmed. 6 of us were adopted, I am unsure of what happened to the others. I have met a few of my siblings, and have a relationship with some.
When I was only 6 years old, I was sexually molested by my cousin. I can still hear the words he used to get me to submit and thought it was normal. This went on with some other family members until I was a teenager. I was a very angry as a teenager and barely graduated high school. It took me until I was an adult with my own children to even realize why I was so angry in high school. I really didn't date a lot of guys and if I did, I was always looking for "The One". Sadly, I looked in all the wrong places. I met a guy that normally was not my type - he was a nice, a country boy. He drove a truck and had been in the military. However, it turned out he is an abusive alcoholic. Little did I know how things would turn out.
The first year was great, but apparently was preparing me for what was to come. He abused me physically and emotionally and even worse, I thought I deserved it. He actually threw a cat at me hard enough to leave a bruise, and that same night, he broke my nose. I am lucky my nose snapped otherwise I would be dead. He had tried to ram my nose into my brain. I stayed for 6 months or more longer and truthfully, I don't know why. Finally, I left. I had thought I deserved it, but I realized I was worth so much more than that.
I met my husband while I was engaged to my abusive ex. We spent months getting to know each other and talking before we ever dated in person. He is my guardian and I am his angel. He has his issues, just as I do. We were exactly what each other needed. Today we have been together for 14 years, married for 11 years in June. We have 2 kids together! We struggled through a lot, but we are stronger because of it. However, the saga of my life continues. When I was pregnant with my second child, I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum. It is basically described as extreme morning sickness, but it really is like calling a hurricane a rain storm. I almost died. I can actually pinpoint the defining moment where if my husband hadn't taken me to the hospital, I would have died that day. I was sick until the day I delivered. I delivered at 2 am in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital, she decided she was ready to come!