October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month, a time for us to speak openly and courageously about the prevalence and effects of domestic violence, in an effort to increase awareness to make our homes, community, and country, a safer place to reside.

Some think Domestic Violence only happens to someone else, but in reality it can touch any of us. It may surface among our friends, family and neighbors; and any one of our families can fall prey. For this reason, it is vitally important to arm and educate ourselves to be prepared to intervene on behalf of our loved ones, neighbors, friends and colleagues.

It was 18 years ago when my family was impacted by the effects of domestic violence. My daughter was 20 years old at the time. She was dating a young man who presented as quite charming at first; but unbeknownst to us, had a history of violent outbursts and dating violence that we only discovered when it began to surface in our family. It was over a 2 year period of my daughter dating this young man that the signs of domestic violence began to surface and became increasingly more concerning over time.

I trust that by sharing my experience, it will give others the courage to speak out and step up.