'Christmas existing with an offender of domestic abuse was completely different to any Christmas I had as a child' | ✍️ Samantha Billingham
At the beginning of most new relationships, everything is new and exciting where you want to be together and spend as much time as you possibly can with each other. I thought he loved me and that’s what he wanted to do.We were in the bedroom and I can’t remember what I said but he pulled my top and spun me around. As I was going to walk out of the bedroom door, he slapped me across the face, which caught my eye, resulting in a small bruise. This would’ve been within the first month of dating.
He didn’t hit me frequently but things got worse, yet in the midst of it all I didn’t see it as abuse – I accepted it and tolerated it as normal behaviour. On Christmas Day, instead of laughing around the table with my family, I sat in an armchair alone, staring into space as he visited his parents. He destroyed the Christmas tree and pulled down the ceiling decorations. He was ranting and raving at me, shouting about how much he hated Christmas.
November 2006 was when he hit me for the last time. He slapped me, splitting my lip as I held our then 10-month-old daughter in my arms. At that moment, I knew I had to leave – for the safety of me and my girl.
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