My lawyer went along with the settlement agreement not fully knowing all that had happened to me. She knew some of it and felt I should just get out of it as soon as possible. I can understand her stance on the settlement based on that.

I don't understand why she changed the charges to irreconcilable differences.

We have been divorced 3 months. We stayed in the same house until a month ago because I needed the settlement money to find a place to live. I was afraid every single day after the divorce, and most of the time for a couple of years before the divorce.

I had gone to violence counseling, but he stopped being violent during that time and the counselor had so many, many other abused women who needed her. We cut it to every two weeks, then three weeks,then I stopped going. Of course, that's when he started again.

With the settlement I was able to buy my own house. It's two blocks from my daughter and I feel I'm doing pretty good now. There is no money left after getting the house, it will be a struggle and with prices skyrocketing, I am very concerned. I'm not afraid anymore.