#whyistay

[happenis27]

My only reasons for being alive

[nichtverfuegbar]

#whyistayed

because I know he’s not like that. because I blame the drugs. because I know him for so long. because he was so nice. because I think he will change. because I think he needs my help. because I think it’s my own fault. because nobody’s perfect. because I made mistakes too. because I don’t want to be alone. because sometimes I think I am crazy and I made it up by myself. because he loves me. because I told my friends he is not that bad. because he make me feel it’s my fault. because my family likes him. because I don’t know anything else. because he always apologized after. because I still love him and will always do.

some will not understand why people stay in an abusive relationship because they have never been in one or maybe they are just stronger than others. but stop judging people who do stay. there are many reasons for me to stay that you will probably not comprehend.

[thevagabondchef]

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An integral part of a compelling Kickstarter Campaign is a good video. My friends at Chiselbox are making sure we have one. Riding the beautiful back roads of Ohio County in wild and wonderful West Virginia! #supportlocalbusiness #kickstarter #RealWV #rideWV #rideyourownride #bmwmotorrad #f800gsa #GoToWV #whyistay #whyIride #vagabondway (at West Liberty, West Virginia)

[michiganradio]

You told us 70 things every Michigander should experience at least once http://www.michrad.io/1f8a45f #whyistay "So my daughter can grow up surrounded by incredible views like this one at Pyramid Point/Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore." -Photo by Meagan K

[ripepoetrycollection]

For Nelly.

#WhyIStay

Because there are good days and bad weeks.

Because there is always that glimmer of hope that will ignite a change.

Because after years of investing, it’s embarrassing to lose a stock.

Because no matter how hard he yells, I don’t want to let him win this one.

Because he acts like nothing happened and I question my sanity.

Because, there are supposed to be bad days, right?

I think this over and over and over - trying to make sense of my math.

Because the good days and the bad are not adding up to what they tell you in magazines…

and in blogs; that calculate that seventy percent of the time you should be happy - and I think to myself that’s odd.

I think that these stats don’t matter and the people who read them are shallow.

The same girls who read Cosmo magazine and try the “95 ways to please your man in bed” once a month.

They are the abnormal ones, right?

Because he says sweet things in the mornings and the nighttime is just not his time.

Because curse words are just words in his dictionary and the pitch of his voice is high just because of his past.

That makes sense, right?

Because it’s my fault for nagging.

My fault for asking.

Because it’s me that’s the problem.

Every year that passes is another excuse for the books.

Every curse word and every loud note pierce through my veins releasing the little blood I have left.

Because every part of my body and every dream that I have tell me that I need to reevaluate my situation.

Because no matter how many poems I write and how many wrongs I right he still doesn’t respect them.

He will never understand.

But more importantly, he doesn’t want to.

[leighstein]

I recently called the Little Rock Police Department to ask about obtaining the incident report from the night my ex-boyfriend stabbed a man with a knife. “I wasn’t involved; I’m just a writer in New York,” I told the woman who answered the phone, as if I needed to clarify my relationship to Jason’s crime: far away, removed. As if to reassure myself that I was no longer the girl by his side, sharing the consequences of his transgressions.

I wrote about my troubled ex-boyfriend, and the last summer of his life, over at BuzzFeed. Thanks for reading (and sharing).