Marry in Haste, Repent at Leisure

She was so in love. She was blinded to all else but him. All common sense went out the window. She met him in July, and married him the following February. But, the things that occurred in those seven months should have told her not to marry him. In fact, they should have told her to run the other way as fast as possible.

The first clue should have been that she met him just one short week after he had been paroled from prison. Unfortunately, that only made him seem more exciting; it gave him that "bad boy" persona that I suppose she was looking for. He seemed so worldly compared to her naivety. He was fearless, especially when he had been drinking alcohol. She turned somewhat to his way of life; drinking daily, staying out until the wee hours of the morning.

Five months after they met, he borrowed her car for the day, and went to a holiday party. Of course, he got drunk, and on his way home, he committed quite a few traffic violations. When he was within several miles of where she was, he ran into another car. Instead of acting responsibly, he jumped out of the car and proceeded to punch the other driver in the face; then, he jumped back into her car and drove off. He came to her friend's house where she was, and concocted a story which would involve her. He drove her car to a parking lot and parked it. Then, he had her call the police and report that it had been stolen. Not realizing how much trouble she could have gotten into for doing this, she went along with the plan. After all, she was just helping out the man she loved.

With the description given by the other driver, they eventually arrested him and charged him with assault and leaving the scene of an accident. Luckily for her, she was not charged for giving a false police report. He was scheduled for Court in February, and she would have been a witness in the case. Not realizing the repercussions, she did not think twice when, a week before the Court date, he asked her to marry him. He was so charming and romantic. They were married, and when he went to Court, she could not be called to testify against him. Nonetheless, he was found guilty and sentenced to six months in the County jail. But, his parole officer did not violate his parole and send him back to prison, which was a possibility.

After serving his sentence, they bought a little trailer and moved into it. It wasn't too long before she started to realize that she had made a serious mistake by falling in love with and marrying him. He started to belittle her and find fault with everything she did. He came home very drunk one day, and, for no apparent reason, started beating her. He destroyed furniture, broke out windows, and choked her until she almost lost consciousness. She managed to get away from him and run for help. She went to her parents' house for the first of many flights from his cruelty. The next day, he called claiming not to remember what had happened. He was so sweet and remorseful; what could she do but forgive him and go back home.

Of course, that was just the beginning. This kind of behavior continued at frequent intervals for the next three years. Finally, after thinking that she had learned her lesson, she left him and moved out of state. Ah, however, the hunter knows all too well how to catch his prey. He joined Alcoholics Anonymous and completely quit drinking. After being gone for one month, he was able to persuade her to return to him.

When they had reunited, he gave her the best four months of their marriage. He treated her like a queen; nothing she did was wrong. Then, after that honeymoon period, he suddenly met another woman and fell in love again. Well, she was totally devastated. He wanted a divorce! She thought she would die! In fact, she even contemplated suicide.

The next year, the divorce was finalized, and she had no choice but to pick up the pieces and get on with her life. Of course, she didn't realize it at the time, but he had really done the only good thing that he would ever do for her. He had set her free.

Now, she has found her soul mate, they have a beautiful child together, and they will grow old together.