I Stopped Dating for a Year After One Horrific Night
My priorities askew, I looked past the unforgivable.
Trigger Warning: this article contains descriptions of violence that may not be suitable for all readers. Fearless community, please read with care.
I breathed heavily as I thought about what to say next. His words thrown at me like daggers, coming from a man that was supposed to love me. I pleaded to drop things, that this fight wasn’t worth it. But somewhere between grabbing dinner and meeting our friends at a nearby campsite, I found both of us like this. In a fight. Tears streaming down my face.
Then suddenly, his hands at my throat.
In September 2017, my boyfriend at the time and I went for a camping trip to Sequoia National Forest. We spent the first two nights solo backpacking in the woods and ended the trip with a night at a campsite with friends.
Once we met up with the group, we headed to the only restaurant near us in the park. We celebrated my friend’s birthday, food and wine ensued. But during the windy drive down the mountain to our campsite, something I said triggered my boyfriend. And the man I thought I knew so well turned into something else, something much meaner.
