Just Breathe

By Marian Simon

Just Breathe summarizes the necessity of taking time to look into the situations that occur in the lives of many women in this present day. They are held captive to men's verbal and mental abuse to the point that they don't always see and understand who they are and what has really happened to them.

This book brings recognition to those qualities being used against them and the realization of the need to find freedom in who they really are.

The book points out the subtle signs that bring about the need to change a life pattern and how to go about it. The wish of the author is that many women may find understanding of what they are dealing with and get help before a tragedy occurs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098069681

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Just Breathe

Marian Simon

Copyright © 2021 by Marian Simon

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Foreword

Marian’s phone rang, and she answered it: My parents are both dead! The voice of our grandson shattered everything. Her scream brought a surge of adrenaline to me as my phone also rang at that very moment. It was our granddaughter giving me the same news. Marian was screaming so loudly I opened the front door to get outside to try to hear. It was the beginning of a nightmare that was real. Cindy, our daughter, had been shot and killed by her husband, and then he shot and killed himself.

April 24, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., changed our lives forever. Since then, Marian has felt that Cindy’s story must be told. No family ever needs to go through the anguish and pain that our family has endured. If only the signs that led up to this could be seen and understood by those who are going through similar life situations. This book can help reveal the subtle things that led up to this tragic moment.

We pray that this book can enlighten families and save the lives of loved ones. God has a plan. This book is part of that plan. I pray that it will alert the readers to those things to look for.

May God bless you as you look into the life of our daughter.

Marlin H. Simon

June 2020

Preface

Just Breathe was written so that the voice of my beautiful daughter, Cindy, will be heard. And I pray that retelling this very painful journey of healing that our family, not by choice, had to walk may help other women who are struggling with an abusive partner and that anyone struggling with the grief that comes from senseless violence will also find comfort and healing. Domestic abuse is any behavior that frightens, intimidates, humiliates, isolates, and controls another person. Domestic abuse is among the most underreported crimes worldwide, and it often occurs when the abuser believes that abuse is an entitlement, acceptable, justified, or unlikely to be reported. If Cindy’s story can save one person the heartache that we have experienced, I will be richly blessed.

Cindy was amazingly strong, even though she never saw herself that way. She truly loved her entire family—her daughter, Amanda; her son, Derek; her granddaughter, Chloe; her brother, Blaine; and other family and friends—more than life itself. Her life was tragically taken too soon, and the loss has left an unimaginable void in our hearts. I pray that no more lives have to endure such pain. We live in a fallen world—the enemy is out to rob, kill, and destroy lives. If only we had paid more attention to the escalating signs of abuse over the years, we might have been able to intervene and rescue our daughter. We all have soul wounds; I don’t know what his were, but he was never healed from them. Because of that, the entire family, his and Cindy’s, has had to walk through a catastrophic event that has changed our lives. As Jesus advised his disciples to arm themselves as they went out into the world (Luke 22:36), may this book help to arm others on this journey against the enemy’s onslaught of grief. But take heart—the very thing that has caused you the greatest pain might produce the greatest power.

The dictionary definition of breathe reads like poem:

To inhale and exhale air

To be alive, to live

To move or blow gently, as air

To pause to rest or regain breath

A soft spoken sound

A whisper

To take in a fragrance

Remember that Adam and Eve were just lumps of clay until God breathed the breath of life into them. My prayer is that this book will encourage you to breathe and keep on breathing and keep going forward because faith that moves forward triumphs. We cannot always have calm waters, but we must not stand on the banks of the river, afraid to cross. Step in, just breathe, and move forward.

Acknowledgments

This being my first, and only book, I would like to thank my amazing husband. Without his support and encouragement, I could not have completed the assignment God had placed on my heart. I would also like to thank Sylvia Maltzman, who is confined to a nursing home. The tireless energy she has given in the retyping and enthusiastic input, along with the prayers, as she assisted me in so many ways, has brought this book to its final stage. Also the prayers of many faithful prayer partners have been an encouragement and blessing. Thank you all.

Chapter 1

Cindy was born on July 13, 1962, in Baltimore, Maryland. She weighed six pounds and thirteen ounces. I had not chosen a name for her yet by the time I went into labor, so my mother suggested Cynthia Lynn. Little did I know, as I held her in my arms the first time, that I would be saying goodbye to her fifty-four years later. This beautiful, bald-headed, greenish-blue-eyed baby would quickly grow into a lovely little girl. She was always a gentle, loving child. She never cried much as a baby, and she never complained about anything as she grew. I remember her first day of kindergarten, when I dressed her in a little green dress and fixed her hair. She walked out to the bus with me, got on it, and never had a problem. During her early life in Baltimore, she always had lots of friends next door and down the street; she kept in touch with her first friends all of her life. We ended up moving around a lot, but Cindy was very adaptable and made new friends easily. Her friends were the one constant thing in her life as we kept uprooting and replanting ourselves.

Her father and I got divorced while she was in elementary school. We left Baltimore at that time. By then, she had a little brother whom she loved dearly; and the three of us went to Charlotte, North Carolina, to be closer to my parents. When I got invited to church and gave my life to Christ, Cindy soon after gave her life to Christ while on a youth retreat. Being born again deeply impacted both our lives, and Cindy began to reach out to be like Jesus at her school. When she started junior high, Cindy befriended a girl named Kim, whom I was concerned about. I thought that Kim would be a bad influence on Cindy; but when I talked to Cindy about this friendship, reminding her that bad company can corrupt good character, Cindy replied, Mom, didn’t Jesus go after the lost sheep? She always cared about people.

I met my second husband, Marlin, in North Carolina, in the church we were both attending. Coincidentally, he also had come to North