COUNTY LIFE
Domestic violence has many faces: Emotional, financial, gaslighting
By BARBARA GREEN, [email protected]
During 2020, 228 Texans were killed by their intimate partners.
Three or more U.S. women are murdered every day by their current or former intimate partner.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It is important to note domestic abuse is not about arguments or violent tendencies, it is about domination and control.
Men who kill their female partners usually dominate them first, sometimes without any physical violence. For some 28-33% of victims the homicide or attempted homicide was the first act of physical violence in the relationship.
A local woman shares her story of coercive control and how it almost led to her death twice. To protect her identity, The Bowie News is using a pseudonym for her, Sarah, and her aggressor, Tom. She hopes her story will shine a light on this facet of domestic violence.
The beginning
Sarah, now 50, grew up out of state, but has spent the last 10 years or so in Texas raising her family. She is an intelligent, faithful woman who loves her children, has worked as an educator and has an active role in ministry at her church.
Her relationships with her married partners have been fraught with joy and turmoil. Married to her first husband and high school sweetheart,
with whom she had three children, they were together 20 years when he came home one day and said he was not happy and left her for another woman.
Sarah hoped to have found happiness again only to see her second husband pass away during the night from a massive blood clot just nine months into their marriage. He had battled colon cancer, which led to an addiction to pain pills cutting their time together short during those nine months.
Her “rebound marriage,” as she calls it, turned out to be her aggressor during the seven years of their married life together.
“When I married Tom it as out of fear of being alone. When he started doing certain things, I did not see any red flags, as he isolated me. He would schedule a romantic get-away the same weekend as my grandson’s birthday party. He didn’t want me to be with family,” recalls Sarah.
Read the full story in the Saturday Bowie News.
COUNTY LIFE
Jammin’ at the Justin makes temporary move
The March 30 Jammin’ at the Justin makes a move to the Nocona Senior Citizens Center, 400 Boston due to a scheduling conflict.
Jammin’ begins at 6 p.m. Come out to play or sing, or just sit back and enjoy the music at the free show. Tips will go to the senior center.
COUNTY LIFE
Bowie one-act advances to area
Bowie High School’s one-act play, “A Monster Calls,” advances to area on April 13 in Clyde after a great showing at bi-district competition.
The production got second place and advances with Eastland and Early. Lia Meier and Corban Word received All Star Cast, and Owen Hofbauer received honorable mention All-Star Cast. The tech award went to Adamari Alonso for lights.
The show is directed by April Word. A time for the area performance will be announced as soon as it is released. There will be a public performance of the play at 6:30 p.m. April 7 in the Bowie Junior High Auditorium.
Area OAPs
Gold-Burg, Saint Jo, Forestburg and Bellevue High Schools take their plays to district contests on March 29 at North Central Texas College theater.
Bellevue will be the first play of the day at 10 a.m. The rest perform at about one-hour intervals with a break for lunch. Saint Jo is next followed by Forestburg and Gold-Burg.
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