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COVID Killed My Dad, and I Can’t Even Cry about It.
On May 23rd, 2020, I got a call from a 919 area code that I didn’t have in my contacts. I was sitting on a patio with some friends, and I’d’ve usually ignored it, but that day, something was just different. “Hello?” “Is this Jennifer?” an urgent-sounding female voice asked me. “Yes, ma’am? This is she?” I asked, my confusion sounding like an identity crisis. Rustling sounds pierced the line and then a man’s voice came on. I didn’t recognize it at all, and the gasping, horror-movie raspiness of it scared me. By now, I’m pacing a downtown Memphis alleyway straining to understand what’s happening through a phone whose speaker…
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How to Stop Overthinking and Driving Yourself Crazy
“But, what if…?” It’s the kiss of death for your mental health, especially if you’re an overthinker who’s been mentally and emotionally beaten down. For me, I wanted to know why the person who promised to be my world was so delighted to hurt me. And I wanted to know what I’d done to “deserve” it. Why wasn’t I enough, and, mostly, what the hell just happened? Sadly, many of us won’t get that closure. And let’s be real — if you had the chance to ask the questions, would you trust the answers? When you’re coming out of a toxic relationship (of any kind) with someone who’s deliberately spun…
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Getting Out: Reclaiming Your Turf after Abuse
Reclaiming your favorite restaurants. That song you both loved. The gym where you worked out together. Your people. It can be more than your heart (and overthinking head) can take. Too bad you can’t hide in bed and avoid the ghosts of your once-happiness… Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. And you’ve got bills to pay. Reclaiming your personal space after the end of an abusive relationship can be challenging, but it’s totally manageable. Reclaiming the rest of the world, however, might feel downright impossible. Don’t be discouraged, though. Take a deep breath. Stop shaking. Unclench your jaw. (Your dentist is going to be pissed about that later, too.) Pull your…
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Coming Home: Reclaiming Your Space after Abuse
If you lived with your abuser, or if your abuser spent any real time in your home, then you probably still see the memories — good, bad, and horrific — play out like movie clips right in front of you. Maybe you hear his laugh and smile sadly for the sweetness that once was. Or… you hear him yelling and wince at the malicious delight in his eyes when he sees that he hurt you. Maybe you even dread going home because you don’t want to keep reliving these moments, seeing and feeling the ghosts of what was, trying to push through the longing for what should have been. Maybe…
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Finding My Happy: Healing from Narcissistic Abuse
Until recently, it’d been a long time since I can remember being genuinely happy. I mean, I thought I was happy for a minute, but with every conversation-turned-yelling-match-for-no reason or every time I got called a “liar” or a “piece of shit,” I couldn’t stay in denial about what was happening in my life. The Power of Therapy Two years ago, I started going to therapy because I was so jacked up from from the “relationship” I was in. Throughout the entire time we were together, if you can call it that, I endured verbal, emotional, and mental abuse near-daily for over three years, most of which he justified as…
