Dr. Laura:

I recently heard a caller who had a possessive boyfriend, and it has prompted me to write.  When I was 21, I was with a man like that.  He was 15 years my senior.  He didn't want me to go out with my friends and he was a pathological liar, stooping so low as to tell me he had cancer when he thought I would leave him.  When I tried to leave one day, he chased after me in his truck and practically ran my car off the road.  If this behavior sounds familiar to some of your listeners, I would tell them to listen to their gut and instincts, as these are abusive men!

My dad was an alcoholic, a wife beater, and a child abuser.  He scared me, my brothers and my mother.  I would have played out that same nightmare if I hadn't decided I'd had enough and finally left for good.  I shudder to think what might have happened if I didn't. Years later, I read where this man had "accidentally" run his wife over with his car.

I've been very fortunate to find a wonderful, loving, and compassionate husband to whom I've been married for 30 years.  We have a great life despite the fact that we both live with chronic medical conditions.  We help each other and lift each other's spirits on our bad days.  

Sydney