18. “I had been dating my then-boyfriend for two years. He kept talking to me about marriage and family and like 'when we get married' – you know, this and that. It was my 21st birthday and he told me about it. “He wanted to get me something. We had been looking for rental apartments to move in together. He tells me to get his coat from his car. When I return I give him the coat. He threw it back, looked at me and said, “I think there's something in the bag?” Then he told me to take it out. It was a tiny box, I opened it and it was a cute promise ring. I was excited and said, “What does that mean?” He said, “You know what that means.” I was so excited that I didn't realize I was never asked. He just assumed that because it was a ring, he didn’t have to ask me.”
“That was later I found out that his controlling parents said they would disown him if we moved out and shared an apartment before we got married. I was so stupid, young and ignorant. I would never wish that I hadn't married him, but only because without him I wouldn't have my two beautiful daughters. We ended up eloping because we were moving into this apartment soon. Sometimes I just wish I had run away instead of wasting 10 years of my life on someone who wanted me to be his wife, mother of his children, maid, cook, secretary and servant – all because he had no backbone and it allowed us I was pressured into marriage before we lived together. It could have saved me thousands in the divorce that was a nightmare, the trauma my girls and I dealt with after I left him, and the abuse I suffered at the hands of his “perfect” parents. Puke!”
—bethannjauron1