Oh my goodness, you are a strong woman. For enduring this, choosing, and for writing this. I, too, went through an abusive marriage and it was a similar story. I even went to a domestic violence center and a social worker there told me "It typically takes 7 times trying to leave before a woman leaves their abusive situation for good." Because people just don't understand. It's not that easy. There are so many layers to leaving. Thank you for writing this!