Why I Stayed. - Graham, Celeste

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Résumé :
An account of my life from when I married my Egyptian Husband. It went from a fairy story of love to that of terror and fear for my life. I stayed to protect my children from a life of misery from this man. I started writing things that he did to me as I thought that no one would actually believe me. The torment and domestic abuse I endeavored was beyond belief, this ranged from physical abuse to mental and verbal abuse to that of taking out a fatwa against my life and that of my children. Being brought up in a family when I was young that was also ravaged by physical and mental abuse with the parents then progressing into a marriage and suffering worse was too much to endure, but I stayed because of my children. The rules are that of if a woman walks out the children stay and the thought of this was too much to bear. Writing it down was the best thing to do with the whole situation. During the time with him, I supported my whole family with sometimes having 2 jobs to support them all as my husband did not work. I was working on my days off, I hardly slept, sometimes I went to work with 3 hours sleep. I managed in this time to complete my master's degree and doctorate degree. I have managed to set all my children up with a decent life after we split. I am still working and have a job in education and research within the area of teaching and learning in healthcare. I encourage all woman to be strong and believe in their dreams.