My stepfather used to beat my mother and my brothers. For some reason he never touched me. His brother molested me on a regular basis, but that's a tale for another time. I resented my mother for a long time becasue she wouldn't leave him. With the help of my grandparents she finally did. We talked about it years later and my mother told me that she was scared that Ron would kill her and us if she tried leaving him. We finally escaped in the middle of the night when he was at work. When you haven't walked in someone elses shoes is hard to understand why they handled things the way they did. I'm so glad that you got free from your situation. Now you have the experience to help others. God bless you and your wonderful kids. :)