Thoughtprints

One day, years ago, I saw the face of fear up close.

I was home alone, the kids in school, on a cold winter's day. I saw a car barrel down the alley but thought nothing of it, as cars always seem to be doing that. Next thing I know, I hear a frantic knock on the front screen door. I went out on the porch to find a very frightened young woman standing there, begging me to come in. I let her in and she began talking very fast, saying something about "running from him", and "he was after her", and said she had hidden her car in a back alley drive to one of the houses on my block, and how she needed the police. She was so scared that she scared me!

I called the police immediately, of course. While we waited, she ducked down so no one could see her through my windows. She was terrified. The officers got there quickly and were able to calm her down enough to get her to talk more slowly, thus making more sense. She was running from her husband. Her abusive husband. She said if he found her, he would beat her senseless. The cops called a women's shelter in another city about 90 minutes from here, then took her to her car and gave her an escort out of town, with directions in hand to the shelter in Greeley. I felt bad that she was going to have to make the drive alone, and hoped nothing happened to keep her from getting there safely. I never saw her again.

The face of abuse -- the face of fear. It's something I never want to see again. I'm glad she had the ability to get up and get out. Most women don't. That's why I am blogging for The R.O.S.E. Fund. They help women just like her so that they, too, can get up and get out. Please, won't you sponsor me and help them help those women?

Domestic Violence, The R.O.S.E. Fund, Abused Women, Women's Shelters