Subject: AUNTIEDOTE: I'm in dire need of advice...please read this.

Dear Heartless Bitches,

I desperately need some solid advice and you're the only ones who can provide it. Please read this (I'll try to make it as short as possible):

I'm 22, just got out of a relationship with an emotional abuser. In the year that he's had me, he's reduced me to feeble, self-loathing neurotic. At one point, I nearly took my own life because I thought that I was pregnant with his child and couldn't stand the shame of it. And I don't mean that wrist-slicing bullshit, I mean putting a bullet through my skull. Thankfully, it blew over. I left him after that.

For several months now, I've been wondering why I put up with so much and, surprise surprise, it's because my father's an abuser. I've read all your articles; he fits the description perfectly. The problem is: I can't run away from him. Neither can my mother. What can I do? He wont listen, he wont get therapy, he wont stop, and he wont let go.

Oh and just recently, he's recruited my little brother. It's excruciating. Every day, everything they say and do...

The only solution I see is to take my mom and leave him. Only, she wont do it because she doesn't want to be a burden (she's too ill to work). And... as much as he's crippled us, I can't not love my father.

So there it is. I thank you for reading this. Any advice you can give me will be immensely appreciated.
~X