And Then She Smiled

By Anne Cutler

This is one womans story of thirty-four years of abuse and torture at the hands of the man she loved, until one day, at fifty-six years old, something snapped. This is her special journey.

Anne Cutler wrote this story in hopes of reaching other battered women and men out there. No matter what walk of life they have, they all share the same hopes, fears, and strengths. Yes, it takes lots of strength, but though we think we are weak, we are far from it.

Above all, they need to learn to love themselves, which is a hard lesson to learn, and to learn also that love should not hurt. Some people have to push others down to make themselves feel bigger.

Anne hopes to give strength to someone else that needs it and to let them know there is a wonderful, normal life out there that is full of beauty and wonder and love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514425244

Anne Cutler

Anne Cutler wrote this passionate story because of the friends and family that are so dear to her. She is involved with volunteer work, which she loves. She is a mother of three loving children, 7 grandchildren that think she is the coolest grandma ever and 7 great grandchildren. She is a young senior citizen. She is now retired and her days are made up of volunteer work with the elderly and visiting with friends and family. She was told by one of her daughters. “Mom, you should go to the Senior Center.” She replied “ When they have a middle age center I will go.” She wanted to write this book, at the urging of all that know her, for other women and men that are controlled either verbally or physically abused or both. To let them know they can start new and fresh. She hopes for all that read this book to pass it on to a Battered family shelter. If she can touch one family out there, than it is all worth while.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Anne Cutler.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015918850

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-2526-8

                Softcover      978-1-5144-2525-1

                eBook         978-1-5144-2524-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/13/2015

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Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Escape

Chapter 2

Chapter 3 Making Safe Changes

Chapter 4 New Jersey Visit

Chapter 5 Trying to Keep Peace

Chapter 6

Chapter 7 California, Here They Come

Chapter 8 The Family

Chapter 9 Working Together

Chapter 10

Chapter 11 Divorce Attorney’s Office

Chapter 12 What to Do with the Rest of Her Life

Chapter 13 Her New, Wonderful Life

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the love and inspiration of my grandchildren. Without the desire to become part of their lives, this book would never have been written.

INTRODUCTION

This is not a book on case history of battered women. This is the story of one battered wife.

All battered women, even though their lives and stories are different, have things in common: that fear, that look telling you that he is angry with you, the footsteps with the stride of anger, the fear that this will be the day he kills you, the hope that the family will be all right, the despair, hoping he kills you quickly and just gets it over with, and finally, the resolve that you will be killed by this man that claims he loves you.

CHAPTER 1

The Escape

December 30, 1999

Lonnie shut the stove off. She looked at the dinner she was preparing. Salmon, baked potato, asparagus, and garlic bread from the homemade bread that she had baked earlier that day. Without thinking any further, she got her coat from the hall closet and her purse and walked out the front door of her warm and comfortable home.

Normally, she would have walked around to the backyard and sat down on one of the cold patio chairs and waited for the right time to sneak back into her home. This time, things were different. She didn’t get that panicky feeling. She simply put her hands up to her heart and said, God, I don’t know what I’m doing. Help me. With that simple prayer, her whole world would change.

As she walked down the isolated road with the cold December wind at her back, she wasn’t even thinking. Just walking, one foot in front of the other. Every headlight that came down the road had her heart thumping in her chest. Then she saw the bank. She remembered that he used to say, If you ever leave, you could take only one certificate of deposit. She knew she couldn’t cash it in, but it was some security. She arrived at the bank at 5:30 p.m. The bank would close at 6:00 p.m. on Fridays. She knew she had a little time, so she went in.

She asked the woman at the safe-deposit box section whether she may get something from her safe-deposit box. The woman informed her apologetically, Oh, I’m so sorry. We close the safe-deposit box section at 3:00 p.m.

Lonnie stood there and looked at the woman and said, Please, I just have to get one piece of paper.

There must have been something in the way she looked at the woman. The clerk said, If you make it quick, I will let you into the safe-deposit box this one time.

Lonnie then followed this kind clerk and quickly got into the safe-deposit box