There's a lot of different things in life that you can survive. Whether you're surviving domestic violence, surviving abuse, or you're just surviving life. And, me personally, I've always been surviving. I've always been a survivor.

Those six years robbed me of that time to really figure that out. So, I feel like I'm an 18 year old in a 24 year old's body trying to figure out how to adult, trying to figure out who I am, what I want to do with the rest of my life, and who I want to be.

I was a victim of physical abuse, but I was mostly a victim of emotional and verbal and heavy manipulation. A lot of people talk about singular experiences, a singular ex that was abusive, whereas for me it was almost all of them. 

I speak as someone who was given a second chance at life. I should have died when I was 16, but I'm still here. And I speak as someone who's grateful for that, that I was given a second chance.
I speak as a troubled teenager who is screaming at the universe, Why me? Why this? Why now?
I also speak as a daughter of a victim of domestic violence.  A daughter of a survivor.
I speak as a human being. A human being who loves everyone.